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  • More Musings From Matthews: Hey, Why Wasn’t This Election About ISIS?

    11.05.2014 | News | |

    MSNBC’s Chris Matthews was all over the place on Tuesday night, as he struggled to attempt to concoct some sort of narrative to explain the Democrats’ sweeping defeat in the midterms. To that end, he pondered why the terror group known as ISIS didn’t play a bigger role in the nationwide elections.

    “ISIS exists,” posited Matthews. “There is a part of the world right now that’s growing perhaps into a Caliphate of people that are really anti-Western, anti-Israel, but anti-US. They grab our people and they behead them on television. How did that cease to be an election issue? Because somehow, did we change the channel? Did Ebola, with two victims, seem more important to us? I mean, how does that happen?”

    It’s hard to figure out exactly what Matthews’ point is here. First of all, it certainly did feel like ISIS loomed large in this election. But even if it didn’t, is Chris suggesting that it would have been a winning issue for Democrats? It sure sounds like he’s trying to make that case, and if so, he’s more delusional than many of us previously thought. Obama has been raked over the coals for his weak handling of the Islamic State, and just about every pundit would conclude that as a result, the issue is not in any way helpful to his party. Heck, Chris Matthews has been among the critics of Obama’s ISIS policy! Has his train of thought finally derailed and collided into Mush Mountain?

    Both Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell were quick to disagree, explaining to Chris that ISIS and Ebola were boons for Republicans this year. Andrea went so far as to lament that the GOP was fear-mongering on each of those issues. “It was a scare tactic by the Republican opponents of Democratic incumbents who tried to focus on ISIS and Ebola in the scariest, most non-factual ways to take the eye off the real issues,” Mitchell complained. “But the Democrats were dumb enough to say, “let’s not talk about the economy.“” In other words, Andrea thinks Dems are too stupid to fight back against those evil Republicans. Wow, that’s some insightful analysis right there. Give that woman a raise immediately. I mean, when Andrea Mitchell thinks you’re stupid, you must REALLY be stupid. Side note: is she saying that she’s not scared of ISIS and Ebola at all? Because if that’s the case, I nominate her to be sent overseas to fight each of those threats. But anyway…

    As for the original point here, I don’t know what got into Christopher Tingle during this specific exchange, but he was clearly grasping for straws. Whining that ISIS should have been a more prominent campaign issue for Democrats? That’s pretty weak spin, even for this slobbering MSNBC host. If that’s the best explanation he has for what transpired last night, it may finally be time to announce the series finale of Lardball.


    Matt Fox

    Senior Editor

    Fox has history in broadcasting that spans two decades. From his early days as an FM host and club DJ in the mid-90′s to his later experiences in political talk radio, he has always had a knack for combining topical news with his love for popular culture. Those experiences culminated in his position as executive producer for several radio shows featured in the TALKERS Heavy 100. Originally from New York, Fox has made the great pilgrimage down to sunny south Florida.

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