Chris Matthews' transparent and well-documented penis envy of Bill Clinton -- a hallmark of his broadcasts for over ten years - reared its ugly head again tonight in the GOP debate.
What possible good reason was there for asking 10 Republican candidates whether it would be a good idea to have Bill Clinton back in the White House -- i.e. because Hillary Clinton would have been elected president?
Did he seriously expect any one of those candidates to say "yes"? Obviously not. So the sole purpose of the "question" was to elicit snide comments about Bill Clinton and/or Hillary Clinton.
If he had seriously wanted to raise Bill Clinton as a topic of conversation as distinct from teeing up 10 Republicans to make nasty remarks - he could have asked a serious question. If elected president -- would the candidates call upon Bill Clinton to serve America in some ambassadorial role?
If he wanted the candidates to talk about what would be wrong with a Hillary Clinton presidency -- then why not ask that question directly?
When Matthews was asked by Keith Olbermann on the MSNBC post-debate about his reasons for posing this question -- and his reactions to the candidates all by-passing his invitation to mock Bill Clinton (and using it instead as an opportunity to bash Hillary) Matthews said: "They turned it around. I'm surprised they didn't have some fun!"
In other words -- he had EXPECTED (and probably hoped) that the question would produce "some fun".
And his qualifications to host this debate were...?
Chris Matthews. A man who apparently doesn't fit the bill. Or perhaps just doesn't measure up...