Why Is Chris Matthews Obsessed With Giuliani?



We need to all stop pretending that Giuliani has a snowballs chance in Hell at being the next President of these United States. Really, we do.

One of the stranger media development is how Rudy Giuliani's lifeless name is floated -- beyond all measure -- by so many super-heavyweight media types in the Chattering Classes. It shouldn't have been that way, but it is. Take, for example, Chris Matthews. Matthews positively has a mad-on for Giuliani. He spent the summer concocting self-important, stupid-ass polls about how Giuliani was going to surprise everyone "if the election were held today."

Why?

Has an urban Mayor ever captured the White House? Of course not. They are utterly unqualified. It's Daffy Duck logic. And Giuliani's knowledge of foreign policy, to be sure, is laughable. Pathetic, even.

So -- why is such a genuinely smart man on politics so enraptured with Giuliani. The romance of September 11th? Giuliani isn't all he's cracked up to be on that account.

Could it be that Matthews drank the exurban kool-aid? Matthews is always in search of the perfect exurban candidate -- the guy who can win in purple Pennsylvania and Ohio -- and tends to push that campaign narrative. Rudy, in that sense, is Chris Matthews' Prince Charming.

Unfortunately, despite the romantic aura, Giuliani is a shitty Presidential candidate and has not come even remotely close to winning anything.

But that doesn't stop Chris, waxing Giulianiesque. From The Observer:

"On Thursday, Jan. 3, the night of the Iowa caucuses, Chris Matthews interviewed Rudy Giuliani live on MSNBC. 'I noticed working with a lot of reporters, even mild-mannered reporters from New York,' observed Mr. Matthews, 'they don’t like you much.'

"That observation set up the question that Mr. Matthews wanted to explore: 'Are you being screwed by the press?' he asked."

--As opposed to being screwed by Chris Matthews, his most loving chronicler in the press, with sweet pillow-talk and butterfly kisses.