On December 17, MSNBC featured another segment echoing the Politico's suggestion that political family dynasties are largely a Democratic phenomenon, following a similar segment earlier that day. Teasing the later segment, which aired on MSNBC's Hardball, host Chris Matthews asserted that “if the Republicans are the party of family values, the Democrats sure seem to be the party of family ties.” On-screen text during the segment read: “Democratic Nepotism?” However, like anchor David Shuster, who pointed only to examples of Democrats earlier on MSNBC Live, Matthews did not mention that, in the last 10 years, two Republican senators have been appointed to their fathers' Senate seats, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (AK), who was appointed in 2002 by her father.

During the Hardball segment, Matthews hosted Politico national politics editor Charles Mahtesian, who wrote in an article that "[t]here is a rich bipartisan history of dynasty in American politics that dates all the way back to the Founding Fathers." But while referring to a “bipartisan history,” Mahtesian cited only one Republican example: “Florida's Jeb Bush, the son and brother of presidents and the grandson of a senator,” who might run for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida in 2010. On Hardball, Matthews, Mahtesian, and washingtonpost.com staff writer Chris Cillizza mentioned 12 current or potential Democratic officials who are purportedly emblematic of political family dynasties. Cillizza was the only one of the three to mention any Republicans, noting that President George W. Bush, President George H.W. Bush, and Sen. Judd Gregg (NH) have political “family ties.”

As Media Matters for America documented, Murkowski was preceded by her father, Frank Murkowski, who appointed her to his vacant Senate seat after he was elected governor of Alaska in 2002. Additionally, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Almond (R) appointed former Sen. Lincoln Chafee in 1999 to fill his father's Senate seat after his death, and New Hampshire Sen. John E. Sununu (R), son of former New Hampshire governor and former White House chief of staff John H. Sununu, was elected as a senator from New Hampshire in 2002.

The December 17 MSNBC Live segment featured Politico senior editor Beth Frerking, who asserted that political family dynasties aren't “anything new,” but added, “the Republicans right now are making a little noise about it, because, right now, it seems to be Democrats that are focused on this.”

From the December 17 edition of Hardball with Chris Matthews:

MATTHEWS: Plus, if the Republicans are the party of family values, the Democrats sure seem to be the party of family ties. Since the election, we've seen a Kennedy angling for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat in New York, a Biden in line for Joe Biden's seat in Delaware, and now a Salazar, a brother, taking aim at his brother, Ken Salazar's Senate seat in Colorado. Can't the Democrats find any non-relatives for these jobs?

[...]

MATTHEWS: Welcome back to Hardball. What's going on in the U.S. Senate? Is it turning into the House of Lords?

With us now, Politico's Charles Mahtesian and thewashingtonpost.com's Chris Cillizza.

In New York, let's take a look at that now. I'm sorry. I thought we were going to New York right now.

Let's take a -- New York's Clinton seat is going to apparently be filled by perhaps -- we know the story -- Hillary Clinton is out. Governor Paterson makes the pick, of course. It might be Caroline Kennedy. Gentlemen, in Illinois, Governor Blagojevich wants to make the pick to replace Barack Obama. Team Obama apparently wanted Valerie Jarrett. Who knows who the pick is going to be out there.

In Delaware, Governor Ruth Ann Minner picked Senator Biden's longtime friend and aide Ted Kaufman to fill the seat as a seat-warmer for two years. It's expected that Biden's son, Beau, who is now over in Afghanistan in the military service, will run in 2010. And now, in Colorado, Ken Salazar is going to be interior secretary. Governor Bill Ritter is going to make the pick. It could be Salazar's brother, who's a U.S. congressman -- John.

Well, that's the question, Chris Cillizza. Is there a pattern here of famous relatives? Don't they have anybody who's not a relative of somebody, who -- in a royal family here? It's getting to be very royal here. What do you think?

CILLIZZA: Well, you know, Chris, it's funny. I think, we, and American voters, tend to have sort of a -- they bristle at the idea, oh, that we're a dynastic culture politically. But, if you look at it -- I did today -- you know, there's between 12 and 15, including the ones you listed, either brothers or sons or daughters of politicians going to run for office in 2010.

So, I -- look, I think it speaks for the fact that politics in this day and age is in some ways a family business, and it depends on people knowing your name. People don't pay that much attention to politics -- the 2008 election aside -- and, so, having a name like -- I'll give you an example -- like Cuomo, for example, Andrew Cuomo, the state attorney general, mentioned still in the -- as a possible appointment in New York, son of the former governor of the state.

And, of course, just one other interesting thing about New York, Chris -- David Paterson, the governor who's going to do the appointing, of course, is the son of Basil Paterson, former New York secretary of state and deputy mayor under Ed Koch.

MATTHEWS: I remember him. I remember them.

Let me go to Charles, because I think there is something very interesting and primordial about why we like -- I know, when you get older and you meet friends of -- your friends' kids, you really have an affection for them. I mean, I have seen this as younger guy. As I get older, I realize when I meet the -- the son or daughter of somebody I've known over 20 or 30 years, I have an affection for the younger generation.

I have a sense that carries over into voting, that people have a strong affection for Caroline Kennedy. I see oftentimes people vote for people who are simply the son of or daughter of, and they sort of like it. They feel good about it. It makes them happy to pick heirs to people they used to respect or did respect.

MAHTESIAN: Yeah, there's --

MATTHEWS: Your thoughts.

MAHTESIAN: There's no question there's -- there's no question there's an affinity there for politicians' kids. I mean, you see that in lots of states. You see it in Pennsylvania with Bob Casey. You see it all over the place with the Kennedys and all.

But what's interesting, it's not just the families that are really popular where you see this happening. You see it happening in places like Iowa and Indiana, Chris, where you've got senators who were repudiated by the voters, and, then, all of a sudden, their sons come along, whether it's Chet Culver, who's the governor of Iowa, or Evan Bayh in -- as the senator from Indiana, who, all of a sudden, get elected and become much more popular than their fathers even were.

MATTHEWS: Well, that's an interesting thing, 'cause I find that a fascinating nuance. Chris Dodd's father was censured by the U.S. Senate -- Tom Dodd was. Pat Brown was kicked out of the governor's office in California by Ronald Reagan. His son came back -- Jerry Brown came back and won a couple terms. What do you think that is, Chris, this sense of almost the opposite of buyer's remorse? It's like you want to console the family by putting back in the kid of the old man you knocked out.

CILLIZZA: I -- Chris, I think --

MATTHEWS: That seems to be a syndrome there.

CILLIZZA: I think it's partly that. I also think it's part that -- and you -- I think you saw this with George W. Bush. Let's not forget this legacy, George W. Bush --

MATTHEWS: He was [inaudible] out.

CILLIZZA: -- and his father, George H.W. Bush. George Bush, in many ways, the current, saw his campaign for president as a way to redeem his father's campaign, you know, to redeem his father's loss to Bill Clinton. I do think you see the sons, as Charlie mentioned, Evan Bayh, Chet Culver, Judd Gregg in New Hampshire, maybe actually eclipsing their father in terms of political skills, because they saw what their fathers did that wound up getting them to lose, and maybe just went a different way. I don't think there's any question -- Evan Bayh is probably the most popular politician right now in Indiana and his father was bounced out, never really serious when he ran for president.

So, I do think it's a combination of buyer's remorse, but also that the sons and daughters learn the lessons from their parents and don't make the mistakes their parents made.

[...]

MAHTESIAN: Well, I think you're -- what you're seeing, Chris, is a good idea about why there's so much resistance to her candidacy, not just among Republicans, but also among Democrats in New York, because she's very different than the kinds of other people we're talking about. She's different than, say, John Salazar, who might get his brother's job in Colorado. She's different than, say, Jesse Jackson Jr. or Lisa Madigan in Illinois.

She's different than these other folks in that she hasn't run for office before. She hasn't toiled in the trenches. And many of these legacy candidates all have done that, whether you're talking about Andrew Cuomo, who worked at his father's side, who handled --

MATTHEWS: Yeah.

CILLIZZA: -- politics for him. Lots of these folks worked at their parents' side. They did work, meeting with constituents. They ran meetings. They organized things. They understood politics or they ran for local office.