After touting his presidential prospects, Matthews said Giuliani "never really offered a big idea as to why he would be a great president"

Summary: During MSNBC's coverage of the Florida primary, Chris Matthews said of Rudy Giuliani: "I began to watch his campaign soon after he entered it last year, and the one thing missing was a big idea as to why he should be president," adding, "It was all, it seemed to me ... about the past. It was about 9-11." But Matthews has repeatedly cited Giuliani's experience on September 11 as one of his greatest perceived strengths in the presidential race.

During MSNBC's January 30 coverage of the Florida Republican presidential primary, Chris Matthews -- host of MSNBC's Hardball -- asserted of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani: "I began to watch his campaign soon after he entered it last year, and the one thing missing was a big idea as to why he should be president." He continued: "It was all, it seemed to me ... about the past. It was about 9-11." He later said that "timing ... is everything" and that "if Rudy had been able to run, perhaps, in 2001 for president, he might've had a shot," adding, "We didn't hold an election that year." But if Matthews recognized flaws in Giuliani's campaign "soon after" Giuliani entered the race, as recently as January 19, he said otherwise. On January 19, Matthews said to Giuliani: "You know, Mayor, for months now, I think I've been one of the troubadours for you out there in terms of your prospects. I have always seen the Giuliani advantage in a party that treasures leadership." And on November 6, 2007, Matthews described Giuliani as "the person with the best shot to win the Republican [presidential] nomination."

The blog Think Progress also has noted Matthews' January 30 comments about Giuliani's campaign.

Matthews has repeatedly touted Giuliani's prospects as a presidential candidate since 2006:

• During that November 6, 2007, edition of Hardball, Matthews also asserted: "I'm not going to sell Rudy. It's not my job to sell anybody." Later, Matthews said: "You know why I've been saying this guy looks good for a long time -- looks like a potential winner? Because I've been talking to a lot of people in the South -- guys that go to lunches in the South, not necessarily church-y people, just secular Republicans -- they hear about lower taxes, law and order, they like him."

• On the February 7, 2007, edition of Imus in the Morning (then broadcast by MSNBC), Matthews said of Giuliani: "And I think the country wants a boss like that. You know, a little bit of fascism there. Just a little bit. Just a pinch of it." When host Don Imus asserted, "Well, the lame observation being made by a lot of folks, maybe it's not lame, but -- that he can't get the nomination because, you know the right-wing nuts, you know --" Matthews interjected: "Well, you know what -- that is such conventional wisdom. ... [T]here should be a buzzer that goes off when people say that kind of crap. Look, if you go down to Jackson, Mississippi, you go to Atlanta, Florida, you go anywhere in the South to men's clubs for lunch, who is the number one speaker they want? Giuliani."

• On the July 18, 2006, edition of NBC's The Tonight Show, Matthews predicted that "the next president of the United States will be Rudy Giuliani."

• On the July 12, 2006, edition of Hardball, Matthews said Giuliani is "not only running" for president in 2008, but is "going to win the whole thing."

• On the June 14, 2006, edition of Hardball, Matthews described Giuliani as the "perfect candidate" to replace President Bush.

Matthews has also repeatedly cited Giuliani's experience on September 11, 2001, as one of his greatest perceived strengths in the primary:

• On the June 12, 2007, edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Matthews -- discussing Giuliani's presidential prospects -- asserted: "Rudy's the ultimate street politician. He was there on the curb when 9-11 struck. He had soot on his face," later adding, "I think that's what people are looking for: somebody who's clear and present and right there answering our questions."

• On the March 1, 2007, edition of Hardball, Matthews touted Giuliani as a "hero," saying that Southerners "can't spell his name necessarily, but they know Rudy was a hero." Matthews also praised Giuliani as "the one tough cop who was standing on the beat when we got hit last time and stood up and took it" and said "[w]e know that Giuliani would be powerful in the ethnic Northeast."

• On the February 7, 2007, edition of Imus in the Morning, while discussing the field of presidential candidates, Matthews called Giuliani "the kind of gutsy, street-corner politician we all grew up with" who "stood on the corner during the fire and told us what was going on."

• On the February 5, 2007, edition of MSNBC Live, during a discussion of Giuliani's plans to file a "statement of candidacy," Matthews declared that Giuliani "has street cred" on the issue of "protect[ing] this country against the bad guys," citing "the image [Giuliani] conveys." He also asserted that "voters like this guy because during 9-11, he was the one guy there on the street corner, answering questions, not hiding like all the other pols did."

From the midnight ET hour of MSNBC's January 30 coverage of the Florida primary:

MATTHEWS: I began to watch his campaign soon after he entered it last year, and the one thing missing was a big idea as to why he should be president. It was all, it seemed to me -- no matter how much coloration there was tonight about the economy -- about the past. It was about 9-11. Jon Stewart's joke in reference to him having "9-11 Tourette's," meaning he couldn't get through a sentence without burping out the phrase 9-11; [Sen.] Joe Biden's [D-DE] reference to the fact that he constructed each sentence with a noun, a verb, and the word 9-11, was fairly telling after awhile, and I think it was about the past.

And I think he didn't really come -- you know, I think of great athletes that run for public office and they think it's an autograph tour. It's about the past. Well, it's not, people like to get autographs from famous athletes, but they want to see what they're gonna do next if they're running for office, and so I think that Rudy Giuliani never really offered a big idea as to why he would be a great president. And I think he made that mistake.

And I'm not sure, as Tim said earlier, I don't think it was a question of his itinerary -- he could've gone to Iowa and been blown out of this thing two or three weeks ago rather than tonight -- I just don't think that it lasted. And as I said a number of nights ago, it seems to me that timing -- an old phrase of my old boss Tip O'Neill -- is everything. Everyone who was around in 1951 remembers [Gen. Douglas] MacArthur's great speech before the Congress, and everybody -- right, left, and center -- said, "My God, if this guy could've ran against Harry Truman, he would've beaten the man that fired him." But the election wasn't 'til the next year, and by then, heads had cooled, Truman was OK. [Former President Dwight] Ike [Eisenhower] was the hero, the great peacemaker. And so, if Rudy had been able to run, perhaps, in 2001 for president, he might've had a shot. We didn't hold an election that year.

— R.C.

Posted to the web on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 at 08:13 PM ET