http://mediamatters.org/tools/syndication/tag_rss/hardball This link is for use by RSS-enabled software to retrieve Media Matters items matching the term: Hardball en-US Copyright 2008, Media Matters for America http://mediamatters.org/items/200805020003 On<em> Hardball</em>, Chris Matthews asserted: "Look, the war's not going to be any more popular in November. It may be somewhat OK with 30, 40 percent of the people, but it's never going to be a winner. The economy's not going to be a winner. So what do you have with [Sen. John] McCain? Integrity." But Matthews did not note his own role in promoting that image of McCain, despite numerous false assertions and inconsistencies. http://mediamatters.org/items/200805020003 Fri, 2 May 2008 16:31:05 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200805010005 On <em>Hardball</em>, John Harwood stated: "John McCain's brand ... has been pretty well-established since 2000. He's likable. He's a maverick. He's a war hero. All of that redounds to his benefit." But while citing McCain's purported "brand" as a "maverick," Harwood did not acknowledge his own role in promoting that "brand." Nor did he point out any of McCain's actions that challenge that "brand," such as McCain's rightward shift on high-profile issues such as immigration and taxes, and his growing list of falsehoods. http://mediamatters.org/items/200805010005 Thu, 1 May 2008 15:34:09 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804290007 On <em>Hardball</em>, Chris Matthews likened the relationship between Sen. Barack Obama and his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, to "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" and asserted: [E]very time you have a problem with Barack, because you don't really know him and he seems a little foreign to you, you think of -- you think of him as both these guys. They're different faces of the same guy. Jeremiah Wright, to a lot of people, is Barack Obama." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804290007 Tue, 29 Apr 2008 19:04:23 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804250002 A week after claiming that Sen. Barack Obama "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," Chris Matthews asserted, "[Obama] doesn't seem to have the knack for walking into a dinette [sic] with regular people in it and just having fun, just connecting." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804250002 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:08:41 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804240010 Beginning on the afternoon of April 23, MSNBC, Fox News, and CNN aired a controversial ad by the North Carolina Republican Party attacking Sen. Barack Obama and two Democratic gubernatorial candidates at least 22 times combined, in most cases also noting that Sen. John McCain denounced the ad. As media figures on MSNBC and CNN pointed out, the repeated broadcasts benefit the North Carolina Republican Party, which does not have to pay for them, and they presumably benefit McCain, even as he is credited with taking the high road for criticizing the ad. http://mediamatters.org/items/200804240010 Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:13:42 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804220006 Chris Matthews stated of Sen. Hillary Clinton, "When she went to New York, she quickly became a New Yorker with the Yankees hat and the upstate listening tour." Matthews has repeatedly suggested that Clinton's assertion during her first Senate campaign that she has "always been" a Yankees fan is false, despite photographic and other evidence showing that her allegiance to the Yankees long precedes her Senate run. http://mediamatters.org/items/200804220006 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:00:24 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804180002 Echoing a familiar Chris Matthews refrain, the<em> Hardball </em>host said of Sen. Barack Obama: "He can't walk into a dinette [sic] with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases." Matthews continued: "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?' " Pat Buchanan responded by claiming that Obama "is very much Columbia and Harvard Law and all the rest of it." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804180002 Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:02:36 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804170011 During his April 15 interview with Sen. John McCain, Chris Matthews failed to challenge McCain on a variety of issues, including Iraq, other foreign policy issues, campaign finance, and spending projects, despite purporting to ask "tough" questions. http://mediamatters.org/items/200804170011 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 19:53:41 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804170008 After claiming that non-Catholics Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp "come off as Catholics, in a way," Chris Matthews asked Mike Barnacle, "Is [Sen. John] McCain one of them?" Barnicle replied: "Absolutely. John McCain absolutely comes off as one of them, Irish Catholic working-class hero." According to the Associated Press, McCain "has long identified himself as an Episcopalian" but now says "he is a Baptist and has been for years." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804170008 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 17:34:31 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804170002 MSNBC's David Shuster asserted that "[Sen. John] McCain also made clear he will continue to insist that Barack Obama stay in the public financing system for the general election as he promised," adding that the issue "could help McCain tarnish the image of Obama's political purity." But Shuster did not mention that McCain may be violating campaign finance laws by surpassing spending limits under the public financing system for the primary period. http://mediamatters.org/items/200804170002 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 12:48:30 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804160011 Discussing "the Catholic vote" on <em>Hardball</em>, Chris Matthews said: "It isn't like a vote like, for example, if you're a Jewish voter probably you care about Israel, that's a safe bet. You have one key concern. ... But clearly, if you're African-American, you care about civil rights. You care about certain programs of the federal government. That's a generalization, but probably true." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804160011 Wed, 16 Apr 2008 19:13:52 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804150009 Despite questioning a few days earlier how people could "still think" Sen. John McCain is "a straight-talk maverick when he's been in league with the president," Chris Matthews asserted during an interview with McCain: "Let me ask you about your Republican Party, because you've been a maverick and a lot of people like you because of that, and I want to ask you how much of a maverick you are." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804150009 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:53:54 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804150008 On <em>Hardball</em>, Chris Matthews said to Sen. John McCain, "[W]e're back at Villanova, and we've had enough softball, Senator. It's time for the show to start here." Matthews continued: "Let me ask you a tough one here. We've done the Abu Ghraib stuff. We're getting to the domestic Abu Ghraib here. Is [Sen.] Barack Obama an elitist?" http://mediamatters.org/items/200804150008 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:49:06 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804150005 Chris Matthews purports to be "tough" and "blunt" on his show, but he has been effusive on the subject of Sen. John McCain. Matthews recently asked how people could "still think [McCain is] a straight-talk maverick when he's been in league with the president," yet he repeatedly refers to McCain as a "maverick." So, the question is: Which Chris Matthews will show up for his one-hour interview with McCain on the April 15 edition of <em>Hardball</em>? http://mediamatters.org/items/200804150005 Tue, 15 Apr 2008 14:17:27 EST http://mediamatters.org/items/200804110011 On <em>Hardball</em>, Tim Russert said of Sen. John McCain: "[T]he perception right now of McCain is someone who's experienced, someone who they see not of the Republican brand or the Bush brand, but of the maverick brand." Russert did not acknowledge the media's role in promoting that "brand," much less the role of <em>Hardball </em>host Chris Matthews -- who, the next day on <em>Today</em>, called McCain "a maverick. People think of him as a maverick." http://mediamatters.org/items/200804110011 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 19:11:49 EST