MSNBC host Chris Matthews said on “Andrea Mitchell Reports” Wednesday the Democratic Party is “not unified,” and is “coming apart.” (VIDEO: Chris Matthews Gushes Over Hillary: ‘Girlish, Fun, Upbeat, Exuberant’)
GUEST HOST THOMAS ROBERTS: Does she have to pick a side on this, be more clear about her position?
MATTHEWS: This morning, Al Hunt made the point from Bloomberg that she ought to do a Sister Souljah moment and just say she’s for trade. Intellectually, I think she probably is for the trade deal. But the pressure on her from all the Democratic interest groups now– and this goes to the issue of Iran, everything you think about right now, all the usual interest groups, the pro-Israeli hardliners, people like that—- are all saying, ‘Which side are you on?’
And the Democratic Party is not unified now. It’s coming apart, you can see it. It’s devolving. And so everybody — it’s every man for himself, every politician for themselves now. And that’s what’s going on. Every issue that comes up now, they’re not looking at the leadership of the White House. They’re thinking how do they save their butts politically. And Hillary’s thinking about does she want to make enemies with organized labor? Probably no.
ROBERTS: Every man, these days, every man and woman for themselves. We’ll wait and see.
MATTHEWS: A little comment, Thomas. The Democratic Party, if you care about the party, does well when it’s more than the sum of its parts. Under the Clintons, under the Kennedy administration, it was always for something bigger than just a bunch of interest groups. And the minute it becomes just interest groups, it gets about 44 percent and loses the next general election. It has to be for something, commanding something national, something unifying, something inspiring.
It can’t just be just protect your rear end. And unfortunately, that’s what it’s beginning to look like lately as the president fades, you know, the president’s fading into his later part of his second term. And they’re just doing everything for themselves. It makes sense politically; it’s not nice to look at, though.
