Matthews on Obama shooting pool: "[I]t's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days"
SUMMARY: On Hardball, Chris Matthews said of Sen. Barack Obama: "I think, being an African-American, it's all the more important to get in there and show who you are, introduce yourself as a person, not as an identity group, but as a human being, and connect with people. I think that's still going to be his challenge." Matthews then stated: "Playing pool, not a bad start, but it's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days." Matthews added: "The guys who have pool rooms in their house in the basement. You know what those tables cost?"
On the May 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, discussing Sen. Barack Obama, host Chris Matthews asserted: "I think, being an African-American, it's all the more important to get in there and show who you are, introduce yourself as a person, not as an identity group, but as a human being, and connect with people. I think that's still going to be his challenge." Matthews then stated: "Playing pool, not a bad start, but it's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days." Matthews added: "The guys who have pool rooms in their house in the basement. You know what those tables cost?" After Matthews spoke, Hardball aired footage of Obama shooting pool.
As Media Matters for America has documented, Matthews has on numerous occasions purported to analyze whether Obama has the ability to "connect" with "regular" voters. Specifically, during the April 1 edition of Hardball, Matthews referred to Obama's bowling performance at a March 29 campaign stop at Pleasant Valley Lanes in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and asked, "[C]an Obama woo more regular voters -- you know, the ones who actually do know how to bowl?" During another segment on March 29, Matthews asked Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), "Let me ask you about how he -- how's he connect with regular people? Does he? Or does he only appeal to people who come from the African-American community and from the people who have college or advanced degrees?" Additionally, on the March 31 edition of Hardball, Matthews said of Obama: "[T]his gets very ethnic, but the fact that he's good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody, but the fact that he's that terrible at bowling does make you wonder." Matthews has also criticized Obama for turning down an offer of coffee at a diner in favor of orange juice and asserted that Obama has "got another problem. ... He can't walk into a dinette [sic] with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases. He can't just shake hands and hang out. He doesn't seem to, 'Hey, you know, how are the Eagles doing?' Or 'How are the Phils doing?' "
According to a Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association 2007 study posted on the Billiards Congress of America website, "There are 46,990,000 Billiards participants in the U.S." -- defined as people who play billiards at least once a year -- and "60% of all Billiards participants have a household income of under $75,000 per year." Additionally, 54 percent of billiards participants also participated in bowling, and "30% of all Billiards participants have a college degree or higher."
From the May 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:
MATTHEWS: Andrea, this whole question -- Hillary Clinton goes down there and rolls up the score, as she ought to, because it's a state she can do well in. The Barack Obama dissing of that state, not even going in there to fight the primary, is that going to hurt him in the general if he's the nominee?
MITCHELL: Well, that's what Joe Manchin, the governor, was concerned about -- that people here need to size him up. He said, you know, these are hard working people, but they have a Ph.D. in life and in human nature, and they want to see you. They want to have, you know, dinner with you. They want to break bread with you.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
MITCHELL: They want to get to know what motivates you.
MATTHEWS: Yeah.
MITCHELL: And that's what he wants to see.
MATTHEWS: I agree. Well, I think he's right. I think, being an African-American, it's all the more important to get in there and show who you are, introduce yourself as a person, not as an identity group --
FINEMAN: Right. Right.
MATTHEWS: -- but as a human being, and connect with people. I think that's still going to be his challenge. Playing pool, not a bad start, but it's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days.
FINEMAN: Oh.
MATTHEWS: Anyway, thank you. The guys who have pool rooms in their house in the basement. You know what those tables cost? Anyway, Howard Fineman, thank you, Andrea Mitchell. Up next, it's the Hardball sideshow.
Maybe it's time you proved to us that YOU are human.
Tweety can't. :-)
MATTHEWS: Anyway, thank you. The guys who have pool rooms in their house in the basement. You know what those tables cost?
Now pool is elitist because CM thinks you need to buy a table to play? Gimme a break. I guess regular people don't drink beer. You know how much it costs to set up a microbrewery in your basement?
Anybody who's with Matthews on this, let me know if you're in my neighborhood. I'll walk across the street and meet you at The Filling Post, where you can check out the Upper Crust shooting pool.Some of them even have store-bought shoes on.
This is what Obama needs to win the Presidency.. Can you imagine what they are saying at BillyBobs' Pool and Dance Hall in SomewhereBob, Texas? These poor cowboys have been compared to a black man. Local trash fills will be full of pool tables all around the South or they will all vote for Obama.
Chris, please run for office here in Pa. on the Republan ticket? Your brother was part of a 79-21% defeat. You may get 10% of the vote.
More comedy from a CystJockey.
I wonder how the "right wing tool" will answer.
Remember to take Hardball off your Tivo/DVR so he doesn't get the ratings.
And Golf is a regular joe's game. That's why Bush won't play it anymore, out of respect for our soldiers dying overseas.
Oh, wait, he lied about that too...
I'll walk across the street and meet you at The Filling Post, where you can check out the Upper Crust shooting pool.Some of them even have store-bought shoes on.
Does Tweety mean that all the folks in the biker bars are elitists?????
Hey Matthews. Ever been to a local bar lately? Not some snooty tooty fancy shmancy bar like I'm sure you go to, or maybe used to go to, but a real "working man's" bar. Guess what they generally have there? Pool tables. Yeah, in some bars they might even have 2-4 pool tables. Guess what? The ones I frequent cost a whopping $.75 to play a game of pool. I know, silly "rich" folks laying down their hard earned money to play a game of pool with friends over a mug (notice I didn't say pint, that would be elitist) of beer.
I've got news for you Chris. Pool is still what lots of people play in this country. It's a fun bar activity, right up there with darts, and no matter how much you want to spin it, it's not some rich man's game, which is what you're trying to say here, no doubt to paint Obama as being "elitist" again, whatever the hell that means. Looks like about 33 million people play pool in the US in any given year (that's one stat that I found out there on the internets, don't know if it's accurate or not). Looks like some pool tables for the home, start at about $1500, or slightly less. Not crazy expensive there. About the same amount for a decent HDTV that lots more people have these days.
http://www.pooltablesusa.com/economy-pool-table-series/
Give it up Chris. You're starting to sound like a bigger moron than you really are.
Shop the right places and you can get yourself one for a few hundred. A lot of us don't require top of the line.
I hope to have one in my next home. My wife and I plan to move as soon as that last kid graduates.
Our family (5 kids, both mom and dad worked) in the 50's had a pool table in our basement. My uncle (no kids, guv'mint job) upgraded his and gave us the old one.
Wow, I never realized that we were a bunch of elites either - us in the second-hand-store clothes and the onion sandwiches at the end of the month because we were out of food until payday!
If I had only known, I could have told those rich kids from up on the hill a thing or two....
I had one, got it from a BAR.
Total cost $300.00 and it was still in perfect condition
You mean that's not the fancy eatin' table?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beverly_Hillbillies
Matthews really wants to push this meme. Why does anybody even watch this guy?
Charlie "White Bread" Gibson made a cool $9 million last year.
I wonder how much Tweety made? How much do elitist news personalities make?
Matthews is so in the pocket for McCain that he has run out of inventive ways to hide it. He loves the McCain Brand "maverick" and wants to create the Obama brand "elititist". Facts don't matter, because he only cares about influencing viewers to love McCain. So, even though maverick is a proven fiction and elitist more matches McCain, with his uber-wealthy wife and years of Senate work, Matthews has been bought and sold and must soldier on. When will the Dems wake up and call him for what he is and shun him like Coulter, O'Riley and Limbaugh?
Cute. What is the subject of the prior sentence? That is a tip.
Either you feel an unwarranted animosity for a total stranger based on one post or you feed your insecurity by personally attacking anyone whose opinion is contrary to yours. Either way, you are one I will avoid.
BTW, all three are deceptive, too. And that's a proven fact, many times over.
MATTHEWS: I agree. Well, I think he's right. I think, being an African-American...
We're just about at, if not past, what you'd call the "elastic limit" to continually and gratuitously invoking the candidate's race or heritage or color or whatever... and by "elastic limit" (which is in truth a term in Mechanics, to describe the properties of materials) we mean the point of stretching or straining something, past which point it will BREAK, or otherwise be DEFORMED IRREPARABLY...
MATTHEWS: I agree. Well, I think he's right. I think, being an African-American...
Why did this guy do that, and why does he and the other hacks of his profession continue to do this... why are they continuously invoking any of the candidate's race or heritage or color or whatever?
Come on, Nerzog. Don't you know that all real, full-blooded Americans are good at bowling??? In fact, I believe there is a bowling-talent gene that was brought over to this country by the pilgrims on the Mayflower. If you're not good at bowling, it is because you are UNPATRIOTIC!
On the other hand, pool is a game that was brought to America by atheist communists, illegal immigrants, feminists, gays, and Muslims. Any attempt to participate in the game of pool, in a bar or otherwise, is an attack on the very freedom for which this country stands...
Oh yeah.... </sarcasm> (as if it was needed)
I hope Obama entertains a game of Bocce Ball (to which I challenge Columbus) to get the Elitist Italian Vote. We, the EI, have a large voting block. Can you imagine how it would throw the pundits into a tailspin if this would happen.
P.S. For those unfamiliar with Bocce Ball, you are racist b@st@rds who are anti-Italian. Maybe Obama is Italian since his name ends in a vowel.
"I think, being an African-American, it's all the more important to get in there and show who you are, introduce yourself as a person, not as an identity group, but as a human being, and connect with people. I think that's still going to be his challenge."
No, Matthews. Obama has gone beyong the call of duty to deomosntrate his individuality and to connect with people. It's not his fault that a segment of the population still refuse to seem him as anything but THE BLACK CANDIDATE. Stop projecting, please.
This is amazing.
Obama is bad at bowling. Since many Americans bowl better than Obama, he can't 'connect with real Americans'
Obama is good at pool. Since many Americans are not as good at pool as Obama, he is an 'elitist' who can't 'connect with real Americans'
Has anyone asked McCain if he plays any sports?? Pinochle doesn't count...
I don't think mccain can do much spsorts wise. he is, as a result of his being tortured, unable to raise his arms very high.
i was impressed by bho's ball striking ability.
Gramps is getting too old to bend down to kiss his Bush's ass.
Good points, Sands.
If McCain wins the general election, will he be our first physically disabled president since FDR? That would be a milestone.
Also, he could be our first mentally disabled president since 2nd-term Reagan.
He also attended a conference with the husband of a Supreme Court Justice and worked the polls in Chicago.
And his wife had a bit part in a Lindsay Lohan movie.
OK, I've got two important issues down.
bowling=real American
pool=elitist
I need to know where the candidates stand on darts, golden tee, and foosball before I can make an informed decision this November. My only hope is that perhaps the finest investigative journalist in the country other than Drudge is on the case. Don't let me down Tweety.
Jawill - I think darts, foosball, and golden tee are all safe.
Just as long as you're not TOO good at any of them, which would make you an elitist.
Also, as long as you don't stink at any of them, which would make you out of touch with real, hard-working Americans.
Mediocrity (but not too much) is the true sign of a full-blooded patriot!!
Mediocrity (but not too much) is the true sign of a full-blooded patriot!!
And, apparently the hallmark of a great president!
"I think, being an African-American, it's all the more important to get in there and show who you are, introduce yourself as a person, not as an identity group, but as a human being, and connect with people.
LOL
WHAT identity group would that be? African American?
Come on Chris, spell it out. That's your kind way of saying Obama and African Americans have to "get in there" and prove to some white folks that they are different. They're not like the stereotypes that some whites have of African Americans as criminals, welfare queens, lazy, jobless bums hating white folks. Of course once Obama proves he's different he has another problem, he's tooooo different. Elitist, arugula and wine comes to mind. Obama's will either meet the stereotypes of African Americans by drinking beer and playing pool or he's that "upper ni**er" who thinks he's better than some white folks. Seems like a no win situation.
Why doesn't MSM and Americans be honest. It's not like we don't know how some feel. Your uncomfortable with the thought of a black leader and unfortunately MSM doesn't have the balls to report it. Truth is no matter what Obama does SOME Americans will not support a black candidate period! It's not about poll or bowling it's something else entirely
Sorry, should be 'pool'.
Now pool is elitist! What's next? Cow tipping? I can hear it now:
"You know Andrea...By the way you look great tonight. But no...Barack Obama was in Kansas this week on a campaign stop and to show...to try to show Kansans..is that right? Kansans? To try to show Kansans...by the way Andrea you really do look stunning...to try to show Kansans that he's one of them...a regular guy if you will he goes out in to a pasture and tips over a cow. Or a couple of cows I'm not quite sure if it was just one cow or more than one. But you know the regular Joe Kansans...that's really more of an Ivy League frat bot type of entertainment or move. It just shows you how out of touch...I mean he's not going to win any votes with that. That farmer was...if I was that farmer I'd be furious. It's like he really looks down on these people."
To properly qualify as a political commentator, you should have a broad understanding of the culture. Regardless of whether he deliberately distorted or is just out of touch, he loses goodwill. With every obviously wrong statement he further self marginalizes.
Like Uncle Jed said:
(Jed is trying to read the letter from Mlle. Denise, which is in French, as Jethro is trying to take Duke for a run in the country)
Jed: Jethro, run me over to Mr. Drysdale’s bank.
Jethro: Okay Uncle Jed. I can run you a heap easier than I can run Old Duke.
(Jethro grabs Jed’s hand and starts running, pulling Jed along)
Jed: Wait a minute! Wait a minute! (Jethro lets go and stops running) I mean run me down in the truck.
Jethro: Oh. Oh, alright. I’ll go fetch it.
(Jethro leaves)
Jed: One of these days, I gotta have a long talk with that boy.
From “Duke Becomes a Father”, April 17, 1963
Chris Mathews needs to find something of substance to say.
Instead all we get is endless chatter praising McCain for no reason and putting down eveyone else for no reason.
This is by far one of the most entertaining comment streams I have ever read. Great stuff!
I just wish Matthews would give us all a list of what is acceptable American behavior and what is elitist. I drink orange juice with my breakfast and play pool on weekends. My wife eats arugula salads. I must be living large! But I don't want people to think I am elitist because apparently being elite is no longer acceptable behavior.
America is the greatest country in the world, but we sure don't want to be elite!!
Chrisgo....With your lifestyle, you are ordered by the Elitest Police to change you name to CHRISGOFRENCHPOODLES....How dare you believe you are above us lowerest-stoopid-werkin' class peoples. Or UGA can change their nickname to Georgia Poodles. And UGA the 100th must go.
This elitest nonsense is the best the Cons can muster at this time.
The trouble with Matthew’s idea that Obama’s image should be one of an individual rather than of an identity group is that the Democrat party’s election platform of class and racial divisions requires these identity groups. If Obama wants to be treated either socially or politically as the reality validated individual human being that he is, with his own uniquely individual circumstances and value choices, rather than STEREOTYPED as “oppressed blacks, privileged whites, rich oppressors or the oppressed poor,” then he’ll have to leave the Democrat party, as have all other anti-racists and anti-socialists. That'll be hard to do for Obama, who , according to his book, spent a large portion of his life sniffing around in his skin cells for a (bogus) "black identity."
Ever wonder why the liberal media presumes that 'black identity" is real , but "white identity" is racist, especially when racial identity, regardless of colors involved is always an obfuscation of the consistent, immutable individuality of identity. Guess too many media students were influenced by Columbia's blatant, but politically correct, racism.
Immutable?
Blatant?
Don't go throwing those fifty cent words around here you elitist.
What are you, French?
Can you tell us all when an entire race of white people were kept as slaves during the history of the United States?
See, here's the problem chief. It's not that it's bad to be proud of who you are and what color you are, but the main proponents of being all full of "white pride" want to make sure that all other races are inferior to them (for an example of this, see KKK rallies, and neo Nazi gatherings).
The other thing is that if you LOOK black, then you ARE black, and that is how society is going to treat you, regardless of how bi, tri, or multi racial you might be. Example, Tiger Woods. He has many different ethnic backgrounds, which one does society see? They see, black.
You are also playing the "poor me" persecuted majority card, and I assume (maybe wrongly) that you're white. I have a feeling that nobody has ever looked down upon you during your lifetime just because of your color. Nobody has probably ever crossed a street to "get away from you' because of your color. Hey, I'm a 34 year old white guy myself, and guess what? I'm pretty damn happy to be one. Why? Because, as a white male in American society, we get ALL of the breaks, and ALL of the chances that a lot of people would never get, just because of their color...
Should the urge arise, the Bushes and the winners in '08 can join the ranks of those who marched down the hallowed halls of the White House to "Pennsylvania Avenue's Presidential Pool Hall". The White House Billiard Room is one of the sights on the former White House tour and was placed there by our nation's fifth President, James "Eight Ball" Monroe.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that Chris Mathews doesn't have any idea what "most people" do. He lives in an insular, privileged world.
I know a few regular people with low-to-middle incomes that like to shoot pool. At a bar for instance, where you pay by the hour.
And those pool tables at home in the entertainment room? - CREDIT CARDs, Chris. CREDIT CARDs.
I admit Chris can sometimes be verbally-challenged, but you gotta give it to him for what he just did (Thurs 5.16) on Hardball. He just tore the repub radio host apart for the appeasement comment made by bush. It was pretty fun to watch!
Chrisyouincopetanthack,
Will you ever just give it up? To what length will you go to portray the good Senator the way you wrongfully invision him as opposed to how he really is? MOST PEOPLE DON'T PLAY POOL? This is possibly the most absurd thing you've ever said. Have you ever to a bar, man? (Or are you and you're hypocritical elitest buddies spending to much time in Dinettes?) Almost every sports bar in America has a pool tabel in it you moron!!! Why don't get out of the studio from time to time, hob-nob with the rest of us working class slobs.
Most people don't play pool. Give.Me.A.Break. What's next? If he's pays for lunch with a credit/debit card are you going to try to say that most "regular people" (or whatever Bunker-ins you adopt next) don't use debit cards, that the pay with cash?
YOU ARE A SHAMELESS, PARTISAN IDIOT!!!
Having a pool table in your basement means you're rich? We had one when I was a kid, and I can assure you were weren't rich - it meant we had a Sears card ;-)