A giddy Chris Matthews on Wednesday night could barely contain himself. One day away from an exclusive interview with Barack Obama, Matthews opened the show by cheering, "I got the Christmas eve excitement brewing right here at Hardball. Because tomorrow night at precisely this time, seven o'clock eastern, the President of the United States is going to join us." Later in the show, the MSNBC anchor lobbied the President to be successful on his program: "Big night, big questions, big opportunity. I hope the President...makes the best of tomorrow night." Matthews described the Thursday night interview with the man he has repeatedly fawned over as "a powerful night of serious questions." The topics will apparently include "dysfunction at the top of government," the handling of the health care rollout and "voter suppression" by Republicans.
Video cross-posted at NewsBusters.