On the November 27 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asserted that Democrats would not hasten the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by cutting off funding for the war because “they're not policymakers,” and because "[t]hey don't want to be policymakers -- that's grown-up stuff." Matthews added that Democrats would “rather sit in the back seat and complain, 'Mommy, when we getting there?' ” Matthews has previously mocked Democrats with this automotive reference. As Media Matters for America noted, on the October 24 edition of Hardball, Matthews claimed that Democrats have not offered a specific plan for Iraq and then asked rhetorically: “Do you know what the difference is between a grown-up and a kid?” He then suggested that to be “grown [] up,” Democrats would have to “sit in the front seat and drive the car.”

Later in the November 27 program, Matthews told Sen.-elect Claire McCaskill (D-MO) that she “beat a good guy,” outgoing Republican Sen. Jim Talent, adding that he had “looked at all the Republican candidates running for re-election in tough elections” and “thought [Talent] was probably the best of them.” That is a notable superlative, given Matthews' positive assessments of other Republican candidates in competitive races both before and after the midterm elections. For example, on the November 4 edition of Hardball, Matthews predicted that Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA), who, after trailing in the polls throughout the campaign and ultimately losing to Democratic challenger Bob Casey Jr., would deliver a “Churchillian” concession speech, as Media Matters noted. Media Matters similarly documented that on the November 8 edition of Hardball, while discussing the Virginia Senate race between Democratic challenger Jim Webb and Republican incumbent Sen. George Allen, Matthews called Allen a “cool guy,” “a very whole person,” and “a man who was headed toward the presidency just a few months ago” who had “his heart ripped out over this 'macaca' comment.” On the November 14 edition of Hardball, Matthews paid homage to several outgoing Republicans, including Rep. Jim Ryun (R-KS), whom he described as “the great athlete and statesman,” and Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA), “the college professor of the House.”

From the November 27 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: It seems to make sense. Two options: get out and avoid any more U.S. casualties; the other option is to stay in long enough to make a difference.

PAT BUCHANAN (MSNBC political analyst): That's exactly right.

MATTHEWS: That's 20 years.

JENNY BACKUS (Democratic strategist): That's 20 -- do you want that on the Republican --

BUCHANAN: No. No. American people aren't -- look, you ain't got 20 years. The American people won't support 20 years. What I'm saying is --

MATTHEWS: What can you --

BACHUS: They don't support it now.

MATTHEWS: -- what can you get done in two or three?

BUCHANAN: I don't know what you can get done in two or three. But I do know, if you do not go right now, it'd be insane. This thing may go down. It will go down in a bloody, horrible massacre and a break-up, for sure, if we turn around and pull out now.

BACKUS: But we have 150,000 American troops in the middle of that bloody massacre.

MATTHEWS: I'm afraid that now is always going to be now. Six months from now, it'll be now.

BUCHANAN: Well, if the Democrats --

MATTHEWS: Two years from now, it'll be now. Every time we have this conversation --

BUCHANAN: If -- well, Chris --

MATTHEWS: -- somebody says we can't move immediately, and that is always the future that keeps regressing from us.

BUCHANAN: -- if the Democrats -- all right, if the Democrats believe that -- if Democrats believe that, why don't they cut off any more funds for the war?

MATTHEWS: Because they're not policymakers. Thank you, Pat Buchanan. They don't want to be policymakers -- that's grown-up stuff.

BUCHANAN: That's exactly right.

MATTHEWS: They sit in the front seat. They'd rather sit in the back seat and complain, “Mommy, when we getting there?” “She just punched me.”

BACKUS: That's not true.

MATTHEWS: That is the Democrats.

[...]

MATTHEWS: I think you beat a good guy. I looked at all the Republican candidates running for re-election in tough elections; I thought he was probably the best of them. What do you think? Jim Talent. Can you say -- is it over now, the heat of the campaign --

McCASKILL: Sure. Sure.

MATTHEWS: -- you can say something nice about him?

McCASKILL: Oh, absolutely.