South Carolina Primary coverage notes: MSNBC…
MSNBC’s coverage plans for the South Carolina Primary on Saturday…
Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann will anchor MSNBC’s special live coverage of the South Carolina Republican presidential primary and the Nevada caucuses Saturday, Jan. 19. MSNBC will be live throughout the day with reports from South Carolina and Nevada, which are shaping up to be crucial states in the races for the Republican and Democratic nominations.
MSNBC’s special Saturday political coverage will include a “Morning Joe” special, live from West Columbia, S.C., with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, 7 a.m.-12 p.m. ET. At 12 p.m. ET NBC News Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert hosts a special live edition of his weekly MSNBC program, “Tim Russert,” with guests The New York Times’ Gail Collins, the New York Daily News’ Michael Goodwin, and the New York Post’s Fredric Dicker, who give a local perspective to the campaigns of former mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Hillary Clinton, as well as a look at Saturday’s caucuses and primary.
MSNBC will continue live coverage all afternoon, with Alex Witt anchoring 1-2 p.m. ET, Norah O’Donnell anchoring 2-4 p.m. ET and David Shuster anchoring live from South Carolina, 4-6 p.m. ET.
Olbermann and Matthews will anchor live coverage of primary returns and caucus results from MSNBC Election Headquarters in New York beginning at 6 p.m. ET, with panelists Joe Scarborough, Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post, Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, Rachel Maddow of Air America and MSNBC analyst Pat Buchanan. MSNBC Chief Washington Correspondent Norah O’Donnell will provide up-to-the-minute analysis of exit polls and early returns. MSNBC will have reports live from Mika Brzezinski in South Carolina, NBC News correspondents Andrea Mitchell with the Clinton campaign, Kelly O’Donnell with the McCain campaign and Ron Allen with the Romney campaign.
Shouldn’t they replace Mathews with Karl Rove if they want some semblance of balance?
Comment by Jim — January 17, 2008 @ 6:30 pm
When that happens Jim I am sure that Brit Hume will have Cynthia McKinney on.
Comment by Aaron — January 17, 2008 @ 6:50 pm
Did Russert have to clear having Frederic Dicker from the New York Post with Olbermann?
Comment by Ira — January 17, 2008 @ 7:46 pm
At first I thought that Olbermann would be the one that I wouldn’t care for between him and Matthews, but as the primary season rolls along I find Matthews to be the one that needs to go.
I know where Olbermann stands in terms of political ideology, and he’ll slip in a barb here or there on the Republicans but for the most part he comes off as neutral.
Matthews doesn’t seem to be picking sides and his love of politics is unmistakable….but his obscure analogies from the Bible and movies take the discussion right off the rails. Then Olbermann, I suppose, feels obligated to join in and it becomes unwatchable.
And the irony is that Matthews is the lead political pundit on MSNBC. Why they don’t use Tucker Carlson instead of Matthews is beyond me. Matthews would be better on the panel in small doses, if at all.
The saving grace with MSNBC’s coverage is the crossover they have now and getting Russert and Brian Williams on.
Comment by FishOil — January 18, 2008 @ 4:19 am
A very thoughtful post, FishOil; you make some good points. I disagree with you about Matthews in at least one way, though: I actually like him better when he’s making obscure references to movies, long-ago conventions and campaigns, etc.
I’m a liberal so naturally I love Olbermann, but I also like Pat Buchanan, at least when he’s offering political analysis. I think he and Olbermann are both pretty good at giving an unbiased and usually very insightful assessment of both republican and democrat campaigns, though I think Buchanan is actually better at leaving bias out of it. But when opinion is called for, he (Buchanan) can sling a jab against his political targets just as well as Olbermann can.
Point is, I like seeing the two of them on the same panel. It doesn’t happen often except during campaign seasons.
Comment by berberry — January 18, 2008 @ 8:49 am
One more thing I meant to say, Fish - I agree that Matthews is entirely over-exposed on the network. I think he’s easier to take in small doses.
Comment by berberry — January 18, 2008 @ 8:56 am
Matthews is suffering from Dennis Miller Syndrome. What’s hilarious is that - without access to Google and his writers at the blue blogs - Olbermann is forced to draw all of his allegories from his shoe box.
Comment by Jim — January 18, 2008 @ 10:57 am
No Tucker Carlson - baffling!
Kelly O’who???
Comment by Cella — January 18, 2008 @ 11:30 am
berberry - Yeah, given the political season Matthews is being over-exposed with appearances on Morning Joe and so on. As if 2 hours of Hardball weren’t pushing it.
Oh, and good point about the obscure references to past campaigns. We all know that Matthews is a great student of politics, but he brings them up like inside jokes the viewer isn’t privvy to because he’s referring to 50 year old events.
Cella - Carlson does not appeal to everyone, I know. In comparison, however, Carlson at least is rational, will back up his opinions with facts and doesn’t make references to movies from the AMC channel or dip into hyperbole and start comparing individual campaigns to Moses crossing the desert.
I’d rather see Norah O’Donnell take the anchor chair. Matthews just goes off the rails way too often.
Comment by FishOil — January 18, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
Norah! Norah!! Norah!!!
Comment by Terance — January 18, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
FishOil,
You make a good point that I had never thought about.
Matthews - the Master Mangler of the Metaphor!
Comment by Cella — January 18, 2008 @ 1:13 pm
Tucker & Keith would make a great political coverage team.
Comment by Aaron — January 18, 2008 @ 5:31 pm
Chris Matthews is horrible. Not even entertaining. He doesn’t appear to be around tonight. How great is that?
Someone tie Pat B’s hands.
Tucker is a spoiled rich kid who is way too easy to hate!
Nora is hot.
Comment by Nixon — January 26, 2008 @ 8:53 pm