War Room - Salon.com

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 20:14 EDT

Clinton is "almost like ... the Al Sharpton of white people"

Off on one of his traditional rants, MSNBC's Chris Matthews complains that even using the word "blue-collar" is elitist, then compares Hillary Clinton to Al Sharpton. Video

By Alex Koppelman

Somehow, I can't imagine that Keith Olbermann handed Chris Matthews a grape after Matthews went off on another rant during MSNBC's coverage of the West Virginia Democratic primary Tuesday night.

While interviewing Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., a supporter of Barack Obama, Matthews began to get worked up about elitism in the Democratic race. "What are your feelings, as a Democrat, about this whole discussion -- you and I have never heard it in our lifetime; I mean we've known that racial and ethnic issues always get in the way of arguing over issues, real issues, but this conversation, as it's turned, I mean, I even hate saying things like 'white working-class voters,' you know?" Matthews said. "I was taught, growing up, don't even say words like 'blue-collar,' don't even get into that kind of elitist talk. We're not sociologists, we're Americans."

As Matthews continued, he referenced a recent interview Hillary Clinton gave to USA Today in which some believed that she had implied the only "hardworking Americans" are "white Americans."

"How do we get back away from this, where these people like Hillary Clinton so loosely say hardworking white workers?" Matthews asked Casey. "It's almost like she's the Al Sharpton of white people. I mean, how do you get away from that?"