Chris Matthews Shares Views In Bristol

By Amy Hunter
Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: October 5, 2008

BRISTOL, Va. – He thinks Gov. Sarah Palin is a skilled performer, Barack Obama is one of America’s best political speakers – ever – and that O.J. Simpson, at 61, is still a pretty good-looking man.

He’s Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s show “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” and he was in Bristol on Saturday speaking about the presidential campaign and the importance of voting. In an earlier telephone interview with the Bristol Herald Courier, Matthews joked about the guilty verdict in the O.J. Simpson trial earlier in the day.

As part of the Bristol Public Library’s Guest Lecture Series, Matthews spoke before a nearly packed house in the Kegley Auditorium at Virginia Intermont College.

Virginia, Matthews said in the interview before his speech, “is at the center of the debate in this election. “If Virginia goes for Barack Obama – he wins the election.”

Matthews spoke for more than an hour before answering questions from the audience for another hour. He was well-received by the crowd, which reacted with booming applause. According to several audience members after the event, Matthews was informative, approachable and just a “regular guy.”

In his opening, Matthews joked that “It’s a month before the election and I guess I’m supposed to know what’s gonna happen.”

He touched on several points regarding the presidential campaign and was vocal in his support of Democratic nominee Barack Obama – most importantly, though, he emphasized the importance of every single vote.

“Each one of you is going to vote, right?” he asked a group of VI students who were sitting in the front row.

To illustrate his point, Matthews began by telling a story about a time he was in a restaurant with Bill Bradley, a former U.S. senator from New Jersey and candidate in the 2000 presidential election. Matthews recalled a waiter at the restaurant who admitted that he did not know who Bradley was. Bradley responded by listing some of his accomplishments, such as being a Hall of Fame basketball player, a Rhodes Scholar and a former senator.

When Bradley was finished, the waiter asked, “Well, do you know who I am?”

Bradley said no.

“I’m the guy in charge of the butter,” the waiter said.

After telling the story, Matthews summed up his point, “No matter how powerful you are – someone’s always got a little power over you. You can do anything you want with your vote because it’s all yours.”

Matthews said he believes Obama will win the Nov. 4 election and that middle-aged voters will be the ones who elect him. He said he thinks younger voters will vote Obama, older voters will support McCain and middle-aged voters will break the tie.

“All Barack Obama has to do is be a regular Democrat. Problem is – he’s not a regular Democrat. He’s Barack Hussein Obama,” he said, commenting on how the candidate’s unique name could affect his success at the polls.

The night before, he acknowledged, Neilsen ratings had been released that showed Thursday night’s vice presidential debate between Palin, the Republican, and Democrat Joe Biden drew in 42 percent more viewers than the presidential debate had the week before. A record 73 million people tuned in, which Matthews said is evidence of what he hopes will be a big turnout, perhaps 125 million, at the polls.

Matthews discussed renewable energy, transportation, education and regulation during his speech and expressed views on what both candidates have to offer. He predicted the weeks remaining before the election will become particularly nasty in the campaign.

“I think this election is really gonna be something,” he said.

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