On the December 21 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asked Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley if former Vice President Al Gore was “in fighting weight” and then said of Gore: “He's the Hindenburg."

From the December 21 edition of MSNBC's Hardball:

BLANKLEY: If you're a contender, one of the lesser contenders, you want to stay there in case the front people fall apart. And the other person we haven't mentioned is Al Gore, who's probably going to get an Academy Award for his documentary.

And if he then came out of an Academy Award and announced, “Now I'm going to run,” then I would have to say --

MATTHEWS: Is he gonna -- is he in fighting weight?

BLANKLEY: You mean his tummy size?

MATTHEWS: Yeah.

BLANKLEY: I don't know. He can get down. Like me, he knows how to get up and down.

MATTHEWS: Fifteen pounds? He's the Hindenburg. I don't think he can --

SWEET: If we're kind of spinning scenarios here, that's the big question mark. If Gore got in, that would change everything --

MATTHEWS: I mean, the strongest ticket would be Al Gore and [Sen. Barack] Obama [D-IL]. I think that would be an awesome ticket.