On the October 23 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews suggested that House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) looked “scary ... like a lefty” in her October 22 appearance on CBS' 60 Minutes, adding that Pelosi could be “looking too San Francisco.” Earlier in the show, Matthews declared that Democrats are, “by their nature, a little sloppier than Republicans,” who are more “organized,” and suggested that Democrats are “always late for the movies” and are not “the kind of people that organize their paycheck.”
As Media Matters for America noted, Matthews previously said that “the stakes” in the 2006 midterm elections would include “whether we want Nancy Pelosi to be the first woman speaker of the House or not.” Matthews added that "[a] lot of professional women and men will say, 'Great.' A lot of the more conservative people will say, 'Wait a minute, this woman's from San Francisco, she's a liberal.' "
From the October 23 edition of Hardball:
MATTHEWS: And I always thought that if you went to the movie theater and you got there on time, and you saw who came in late. Democrats -- I would bet Democrats are always late for the movies, because they are not as organized as the Republicans. They're not the kind of people that organize their paycheck, organize this, figure out this, put all the spoons together in the drawer exactly right, like the Republicans do. Aren't they, by their nature, a little sloppier than Republicans --
MIKE ALLEN (Time magazine White House correspondent): This new -- probably this --
MATTHEWS: -- and it's showing up?
JOHN DICKERSON (Slate.com chief political correspondent): Right, but they -- but they have anger, and anger motivates. And they are angry at this president. And every time he shows up, they get angrier. And that is why this president's numbers have not gone up. They are very angry and anger, if you look -- go to the college professors who have looked at what motivates people, the angry people turn out.
[...]
MATTHEWS: Did you think Pelosi looked scary on 60 Minutes the other night?
ALLEN: Well, I'll tell you, a lot of Republicans think that she's crazy to be cooperating with these profiles. They think it makes -- gives her a bigger target, reminds -- and maybe gets -- some of those Republicans out who would not otherwise. But --
MATTHEWS: Did you think she looked scary last night -- like a lefty?
ALLEN: -- which, I can tell you that her people think that these -- that these profiles show her as being commanding and personable.
MATTHEWS: OK. Do you think -- does she look like if she gets a full -- a full spread on TV, like 60 Minutes, a program like that, she'll probably get more on 20/20, shows like that? Do you think she's looking too San Francisco?