On the October 11 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews declared that the “best critics” of the war in Iraq “are the Republicans.” He added that “it's not the lefties” and “it's not [Rep.] John P. Murtha [D-PA],” but rather the “smart, grown-up Republicans who are questioning this policy and calling for a change.”

However, when Murtha began to speak out for U.S. troop redeployment, Matthews cast him as a credible critic. During a conversation with NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell on the November 18, 2005, edition of Hardball, Mitchell called Murtha “a poster child for [the Democrats'] argument” because he's "[n]ot some liberal from Massachusetts," referring to Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). Matthews agreed with Mitchell's contention, stating: “That's the key, isn't it? It's not [House Democratic Leader] Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco or somebody from Cambridge, Mass. -- one of the elite coastal communities -- but it's from somebody in the industrial heartland.”

From the November 18, 2005, edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MITCHELL: The Democrats believe that they actually have the pulse of the country on their side. John Kerry and others were on the floor today and were defending John Murtha, because here they have as a poster child for their argument not some liberal from Massachusetts, but a guy from, you know, Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A rank-and-file labor guy from a working-class area who has been a lifelong supporter of the military.

MATTHEWS: That's the key, isn't it? It's not Nancy Pelosi from San Francisco --

MITCHELL: Exactly.

MATTHEWS: -- or somebody from Cambridge, Mass. -- one of the elite coastal communities -- but it's from somebody in the industrial heartland.

From the October 11 edition of Hardball:

MATTHEWS: The real grown-ups, gentlemen, and Margaret -- is that the best critics of this war are the Republicans. [Sen.] John Warner [R-VA], the chairman of the Armed Services [Committee] -- it's not the lefties, it's not Jack Murtha out there even. It's the smart, grown-up Republicans who are questioning this policy and calling for a change.

THOMAS OLIPHANT (Boston Globe columnist): That's right. Now -- a major change.