0 defeat the president. i disagreed with nearly everything the bush a administration did. i questioned the reasons we went to war, i criticized his tax cuts for the rich. i everybody led marches against his administration. but i meant with president bush. i always had respect for the presidency. when we met, it was always mr. president. he was not my choisz and he was certainly not one i supported. but you can t disrespect the office holder and then hope to get your person, the one you believe in, in the office. we must look up to the office and, in order to do that, we must respect the office holder. thanks for watching. i m al sharpton. happy president s day. hardball starts right now. it s president s day. going to the mattress, let s play hardball. good evening, let me start tonight with this big one. is barack obama going for it? is he becoming one of the great president presidents in history? i m talking to use his word, transformational. and is he using the country s h
0 it s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bo bootstraps. on this president s day, let s make sure all our kids have boots so that all of them can pull themselves you have. thanks so much for watching us this afternoon. chris matthews and hardball picks things up right now. it s president s day. going to the mattresses. let s play hardball. good evening. i m chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this big one. is barack obama going for it? is he suddenly becoming one of the great presidents in history? i m not talking about mt. rushmore but perhaps the level right below it. i m talking, to use his word, transformational. and is he using the country s historic demographic shift to do it? can he combine the new american power of hispanics and other minorities with the immediate aspirations of women to lob himself into the highest level of presidenti
good evening. i m chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. when a party loses an election, the knives come out. right now we re watching the night of the long knives on the right. these stories breaking tonight. right wing senator jim demint, the man behind too many failed right wing senate challengers, christine i m not a witch o donnell, richard mourdock announced today he s quitting the senate to run the hard right heritage foundation. meanwhile, in the republican house a purge is under way with speaker boehner dumping uncontrollable right wingers from prize committee assignments. they re out because they re too right. so what is too right for the republicans following the defeat this week or their defeat last month? is voting nay in the senate against a handicap rights treaty because it carries the nightmare dread of blue helmets riding black helicopters sweeping into your home school room. is that okay? what s out? what s in in the republican party
right wing senator jim demint, the man behind too many failed right wing senate challengers, christine i m not a witch o donnell, richard mourdock announced today he s quitting the senate to run the hard right heritage foundation. meanwhile, in the republican house a purge is under way with speaker boehner dumping uncontrollable right wingers from prize committee assignments. they re out because they re too right. so what is too right for the republicans following the defeat this week or their defeat last month? is voting nay in the senate against a handicap rights treaty because it carries the nightmare dread of blue helmets riding black helicopters sweeping into your home school room. is that okay? what s out? what s in in the republican party that just took a licking? bob shrum is a democratic strategist and columnist at the daily beast, and john brabender ran rick santorum s presidential campaign. i expect you gentleman to play fair and aim directly below the belt. just
0 you know that nate he silver has updated his chances of the president winning to 86.4 which is the highest chance of winning. so much for that debate and so much for romney attacking big bird. thank you for joining me. the ed show is up next. the day after. let s play hardball. good evening. i m chris matthews back in washington. let me start tonight with two big questions, hardball questions if you will. one, why? why did what happened last night happen? why did a president who has proven himself as a policy expert and world class politician let the other guy take charge? because if he can t answer that question, he may be doomed to defeat in the remaining two debates. second big question, can a victory over the facts of last gentlemen, that s a tough assessment. it s matched by this, i m showing you one of the strongest headlines, a full banner basically giving it completely to romney last night. governor rendell, you have been in a lot of tough debates. i don t know wh