Kirk Watson Gives it a Spin, Things Go Awry

"A fantastically awkward mix of dead air, stuttering, laughter and repetition ensued." --Huffington Post

State Senator Kirk Watson, D-Austin, got stuck playing "hardball" with MSNBC's Chris Matthews tonight on live TV. Matthews pinned down Watson, asking him to name "specific legislative accomplishments" of Senator Barack Obama (who Watson supports).

Watson looked stunned and uncomfortable before responding with... nothing.

"I'm not gonna be able to do that tonight," said Watson. "What Obama is able to do is inspire," Watson said.

It played right into the woman spinning for Clinton, Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, who says that Clinton has a real record of accomplishments.

Then Matthews gave Watson another chance to list Senator Obama's accomplishments. Another awkward moment, and Watson is stumped again. But Matthews gives him the last word, to talk broadly.

After the pretty painful interview came to an end, Olbermann tried to deflect a little.

OLBERMANN: "In defense of Senator Obama, can you name one accomplishment of the US Senate within the last ten years?"
MATTHEWS: That's a broader question.
OLBERMANN: See, you can't name anything either.

"He's here to defend Barack Obama and he had nothing to say," said Matthews. "And that's a problem. We have to vet the guests occasionally."

Three thoughts:
1.) The takeaway from this is the Obama surrogates probably have to be a better trained before going live on national TV. To be fair, had it been a regular MSNBC anchor asking the questions instead of an overcompensating Chris Matthews, Watson would have been fine, he's a natural on television.

2.) Notice I said Chris Matthews was overcompensating. My takeaway on his pointed challenge to Watson is that it has more to do with Matthews than Obama. Matthews has been taking a lot of grief for his fawning comments about Obama on the evening of the Potomac Primaries:

That's right, Matthews called it an "objective" assessment when he said he "felt a thrill go up my leg" upon hearing Obama speak. Since then, he's taken a lot of grief for what appears to be a strong personal admiration of Barack Obama. He's probably trying to be harder on Obama as a result, which is what I'm gonna call overcompensation. Still, Watson could have been better prepared.

3.) It was awkard, but Watson has little to feel bad about. The viewership of MSNBC at this time of night is small, and Americans have short attention spans. I have already forgotten what I am writing about.

Other Takes on Watson v Matthews
The New Republic
Texas Observer
Ground Report
The Rhetorical Situation