During a roundtable discussion about the August 8 Democratic senatorial primary in Connecticut, MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews accused Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) of having employed a “bob and weave” with her position on the Iraq war, contrasting her with Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), who Matthews said “hasn't cut and run.” Matthews made his comments on the August 7 edition of Hardball, which featured Human Events editor Terence P. Jeffrey and Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne Jr.

During the program, Dionne noted that in recent days, Lieberman, facing a fight to win the primary against challenger Ned Lamont, a Connecticut businessman who has criticized Lieberman's support for the Iraq war, had issued “as much of an apology as he could possibly do” for his vote to authorize the war. In response, Matthews characterized Lieberman's position as “limited, modified hangout,” adding, “he's giving you Hillary. Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.”

Later, discussing Lieberman's position on the Iraq war, Jeffrey described Lieberman as having been “morally and logically consistent and statesman-like” by remaining a supporter of that war," to which Matthews responded, “So he hasn't cut and run? He hasn't cut and run?” echoing Republican criticism of Democrats who support withdrawing troops from Iraq.

After Dionne asked, “Has anybody heard about new information? That you know, I mean, the more this war goes on, the more you say, wait a minute, this is no good for the country,” Jeffrey described Democrats who changed their mind about the war as having performed a “bob and weave,” to which Matthews responded, “I like ... the bob and weave, because I hear Hillary.”

As Media Matters For America previously noted, Matthews stated during the July 31 edition of Hardball that if Democratic critics recognize that President Bush made a “smart decision” to invade Iraq, then Bush “deserves to have a place in history” because "[y]ou can't say he did the right thing but he didn't quite do it right."

From the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: OK, let's try our in-house roundtable here. E.J. Dionne, who do you think's going to win tomorrow?

DIONNE: Every smart person I know except for [panelist and Hartford Courant Washington bureau chief] David [Lightman] says Lamont's going to win. David's even smarter because he refuses to make a prediction.

MATTHEWS: What about the polling coming in that shows a shift toward Joe?

DIONNE: And I think -- here's the only way Lieberman survives. It is on, as you put it, the Uncle Tonoose* vote. A lot of people like him, and he did what amounted to as much of an apology as he could possibly do last night. I thought --

MATTHEWS: He gave us a Hillary.

DIONNE: Right, well, he gave a speech that said --

MATTHEWS: Limited, modified hangout --

DIONNE: Right.

MATTHEWS: -- which was --what did he actually say?

DIONNE: What he actually said was he withdrew that statement, really, where he said, you know, Bush is going to be president for three more years and we criticize him at our peril. He said instead," I welcome dissenters," and he listed, right at the beginning of the speech, eight different things he had opposed Bush on. And I think those voters --

MATTHEWS: Except going to war in Iraq.

DIONNE: In Iraq, right, but even there he said, “Well, I've opposed this aspect of Bush's policy” --

MATTHEWS: Right, but he's giving you Hillary. Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, Hillary.

DIONNE: What I think he's doing is trying to take all those voters David was talking to, who kind of want to vote for him, really agree with Lamont on the war but are looking for an excuse tomorrow morning to say, “Let's give him one more shot.”

[...]

MATTHEWS: You know where he's winning? Among people under 30K a year. What do you say, Terry?

JEFFREY: Well, let me put a different angle on your analysis, Chris. Obviously, politicians should vote their conscience, and voters should vote their conscience. But if Joe Lieberman loses tomorrow, and you have a bunch of Democratic senators who voted for the war in Iraq just like he did, and they go out and support Lamont, who took the opposite position, just because Lamont has a D next to the name, are they fighting for their conscience, or are they putting their party above conscience? The truth is that 29 Senate Democrats voted exactly like Joe Lieberman did on the Iraq war, and whereas you can look at Joe Lieberman and say, OK, this guy has been morally and logically consistent and statesman-like, following up on that vote responsibly since -- have other Democrats been as responsible and statesman-like as he has been?

MATTHEWS: So he hasn't cut and run? He hasn't cut and run?

DIONNE: Has anybody heard about new information? That you know, I mean, the more this war goes on, the more you say, wait a minute, this is no good for the country.

JEFFREY: I can see that to you, E.J. --

DIONNE: New information is important.

JEFFREY: Someone could come out and say, “I voted against the war, it's wrong, I think the best thing for our country, all interests considered, is for us to get out of there now.” But most of those Senate Democrats aren't saying -- they're bobbing and weaving, trying to finesse the issue.

MATTHEWS: I've gotta go back, I like that. I like the bob -- we'll pick up on the bob and weave, because I hear Hillary. We'll be right back with Terry Jeffrey, E.J. Dionne and David Lightman. You're watching Hardball, only on MSNBC.

* Uncle Tonoose was a character on the 1950s TV show Make Room for Daddy. Earlier in the show, after Lightman suggested that Lieberman might get votes for being a “good guy,” Matthews said: “You mean it's going to be a sentimental, sort of an Uncle Tonoose, he's been with the family for years, he shows up for Thanksgiving even though we don't agree with him on the most important issue of our times, we're going to use our vote as a sentimental, gee whiz, you're OK with us, Joe?”