Fact-checking Matthews on Obama and pool

There's no fact that Chris Matthews can't get wrong -- this is one of my favorite Hardball fact-checks ever:

On the May 13 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, discussing Sen. Barack Obama, host Chris Matthews asserted: "I think, being an African-American, it's all the more important to get in there and show who you are, introduce yourself as a person, not as an identity group, but as a human being, and connect with people. I think that's still going to be his challenge." Matthews then stated: "Playing pool, not a bad start, but it's not what most people play. People with money play pool these days." Matthews added: "The guys who have pool rooms in their house in the basement. You know what those tables cost?" After Matthews spoke, Hardball aired footage of Obama shooting pool. ...

According to a Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association 2007 study posted on the Billiards Congress of America website, "There are 46,990,000 Billiards participants in the U.S." -- defined as people who play billiards at least once a year -- and "60% of all Billiards participants have a household income of under $75,000 per year." Additionally, 54 percent of billiards participants also participated in bowling, and "30% of all Billiards participants have a college degree or higher."

Matthews constantly does this sort of projecting of his Democrats-as-elitists narrative onto Obama:

As Media Matters for America has documented, Matthews has on numerous occasions purported to analyze whether Obama has the ability to "connect" with "regular" voters. Specifically, during the April 1 edition of Hardball, Matthews referred to Obama's bowling performance at a March 29 campaign stop at Pleasant Valley Lanes in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and asked, "[C]an Obama woo more regular voters -- you know, the ones who actually do know how to bowl?" During another segment on March 29, Matthews asked Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO), "Let me ask you about how he -- how's he connect with regular people? Does he? Or does he only appeal to people who come from the African-American community and from the people who have college or advanced degrees?" Additionally, on the March 31 edition of Hardball, Matthews said of Obama: "[T]his gets very ethnic, but the fact that he's good at basketball doesn't surprise anybody, but the fact that he's that terrible at bowling does make you wonder." Matthews has also criticized Obama for turning down an offer of coffee at a diner in favor of orange juice and asserted that Obama has "got another problem. ... He can't walk into a dinette [sic] with five or six guys there, white guys, in some cases. He can't just shake hands and hang out. He doesn't seem to, 'Hey, you know, how are the Eagles doing?' Or 'How are the Phils doing?' "

There's nothing like inside-the-Beltway millionaires lecturing political candidates about the habits of regular people. But you won't hear anyone prominent object because they all want to be on Hardball!

PS It defies belief that some people think Matthews should run for the Senate in 2010.

Comments

[exh]

Have I been asleep during this whole primary? When did the ~1/3 of Americans with a college degree stop being "regular people"?

[David]

Another Matthews Blooper

Matthews allowed a guest to assert that the USS Cole attack happened under President Bush, then said, "Wasn't the USS Cole under Bush? I mean, I don't know what I'm talking about here."

In fact, the USS Cole was attacked in October, 2000, during Clinton's Presidency.