Sen. Clinton: People can use some carrots
Posted: Friday, October 19, 2007 5:09 PM by Cathy Finkler
Chris Matthews
"Hardball" host Chris Matthews gives his take on the day's top political headlines.
Hillary: Eat your carrots!
Sen. Hillary Clinton commented on overeating today by saying: “People now eat all day long. People walk down the street, they eat in their cars - they eat everywhere. I think we can use some carrots and maybe a few sticks to help people understand what they are doing to themselves." Eat your carrots, America!
Hillary’s “Help”
The Los Angeles Times reports today that Hillary has raised unprecedented amounts of money from poor Chinatown residents. “Dishwashers, waiters and others whose jobs and dilapidated home addresses seem to make them unpromising targets for political fundraisers are pouring $1,000 and $2,000 contributions into Clinton's campaign treasury." The report goes on to say that many of the donors, some of whom don't even vote, felt pressured to give because leaders in neighborhood associations told them to. While she shovels the money in one door, she shovels out the federal money in another.
GOP to Woodstock: Drop dead
Republicans in Congress have succeeded in killing an earmark proposed by Sen. Clinton and New York's Chuck Schumer. It would have provided $1 million for a Woodstock museum in upstate New York. Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl said, "With all the pressing needs facing our country today, from entitlement reform to children's health care to the war in Iraq, the idea that the federal government should fund a museum that celebrates a 38-year-old concert is simply absurd." And Mississippi's Trent Lott added, "They had a hippiefest there, and it just seems like a highly questionable place to be putting a million bucks, especially taxpayers' dollars." I say "Woodstock Nation" shouldn't be asking for pig's money.
Edwards: In his own league
Despite his Carolina roots, John Edwards is having a tough time in South Carolina. Even though he won that primary in 2004, he's now trailing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. An American Research Group poll shows him down from 30% in May to just 7% now. Time Magazine reports that voters just don't see Edwards as one of them. One voter, who actually does support Edwards, told the magazine, "He's in a whole other league than me." Taking a jab at Edwards's penchant for expensive haircuts, he pointed to his own hair and added, "This 'uns $8."
Big bid for Rush letter
Remember Rush Limbaugh's "phony soldiers" comment? In the wake of that fight, Democratic senators sent a letter to the head of Clear Channel criticizing Limbaugh. Rush then took that letter and put it up on eBay, where today it sold for $2.1 million. The money goes to a charity that provides aid to the children of fallen soldiers.
Rivals show some respect
Finally, I wrote a piece today in the Boston Globe about something that I observed during our last presidential debate up in Michigan. "What grabbed me was how differently the candidates all behaved when the lights dimmed for CNBC and MSNBC commercials. They actually looked like they had come to enjoy one another's company."
