Matthews did not challenge Madden's claim that McCain "trying to hug" Clinton voters given McCain's recent comments about her

Summary: On Hardball, after former Mitt Romney spokesman Kevin Madden claimed that Sen. John McCain, "whether he's talking about health care or ... he's talking about what he really likes about Hillary Clinton, how he's worked well with her -- he's trying to hug those voters because he believes that his calculus for victory is right in the middle. It's not playing to the -- to the left," Chris Matthews did not note that McCain has derided Sen. Barack Obama's health care plan as "HillaryCare."

On the July 23 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asserted that there are certain groups of Democrats "that have a problem ... supporting Barack Obama" and asked Kevin Madden, former spokesman for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, "Aren't you working on those groups?" Madden responded by asserting that "McCain, whether he's talking about health care or whether he's talking about the environment or he's talking -- he's talking about what he really likes about Hillary Clinton, how he's worked well with her -- he's trying to hug those voters because he believes that his calculus for victory is right in the middle. It's not playing to the -- to the left." However, Matthews did not point out that, while talking about health care at a recent event, McCain derided Obama's plan as "HillaryCare." At the July 17 town hall, McCain asserted, "My friends, we've seen this movie before," and added, "It was called 'HillaryCare' back in 1993, and we're not going to do it again. We're not going to have the government take over the health care system in America."

From the July 23 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: Kevin, let's go. Let's talk turkey here, right? Let's talk ethnic and gender politics. There's three groups of people, I'm sure there are tons of them, but I can think of three that are having a problem, who are Democrats, supporting Barack Obama. There are women voters who feel that Hillary Clinton was the best bet for a woman president in -- ever and that she didn't get the shot she should've gotten.

MADDEN: Right.

MATTHEWS: There are people who are very pro-Israeli, Jewish voters, right-wing Christian voters, some of them, who feel that Barack Obama is not their guy on the Middle East, right?

MADDEN: Right.

MATTHEWS: There are also a lot of rich Clinton supporters who built careers investing in the Clintons --

MADDEN: Well, you are --

MATTHEWS: -- who aren't too thrilled about having the wrong guy become the -- the next Democratic president. Aren't you guys out there trying to get all three of those groups?

MADDEN: Absolutely.

MATTHEWS: Aren't you working on those groups?

MADDEN: And -- and -- and --

MATTHEWS: Absolutely.

MADDEN: Lunch -- lunch-pail Democrats. I mean, that's essentially that -- where -- your representative of the big middle. And you see McCain, whether he's talking about health care or whether he's talking about the environment or he's talking -- he's talking about what he really likes about Hillary Clinton --

MATTHEWS: Right.

MADDEN: -- how he's worked well with her -- he's trying to hug those voters because he believes that his calculus for victory is right in the middle. It's not playing to the -- to the left.

MATTHEWS: But that thing today about the Holocaust, the second Holocaust. I think -- and saying that --

MADDEN: That's a big risk for him.

MATTHEWS: Barack Obama is willing to lose an elec -- a war so he can win an election. That's pretty raw stuff.

—R.C.