Tuesday night on MSNBC’s Hardball, host Chris Matthews discussed the Wisconsin recall election and complimented colleague Ed Schultz for all the effort he has made in helping the labor unions in that state. He said that if Schultz wasn’t a host on MSNBC he could be the head of the AFL-CIO.
Matthews: You may not like me saying this, Ed, buddy, but I’ve got to tell you, if you weren’t doing this—and you’re doing a fabulous job as this colleague, you’re doing better than we’re doing at Hardball, you’re getting great numbers—I’ve got to tell you something. You could be head of the AFL-CIO and they’d be better off for it. Anyway, thank you. Ed Schultz, out there fighting for the middle class. I know I’m right. Or something even bigger, Mr. Schultz.
I can almost sense another Matthews leg tingle.
Schultz doesn’t need the AFL-CIO job because MSNBC lets him act as a sort of de-facto head of the labor union on his show. He uses it as a bully pulpit to pound those who don’t agree with his pro-union stance.
But that was before the election results were in.
As a matter of fact, both Matthews and Schultz were confident that Scott Walker would be defeated. They both cited exit polls that showed that those who had voted said they favored Obama over Romney by a 51-45 percent margin. Matthews added that big labor does better after 6 p.m. when people get home from work.
Schultz then displayed his great political prognostication skills when he told Matthews that while the governor had $27 million more spent on his side than for his opponent, Walker is on the ropes.
Instead, Gov. Walker cruised to victory and dealt Schultz and his labor pals a stunning defeat that could have negative ramifications for Obama in Wisconsin in November.
Comments
Comments are turned off for this article.