There is nothing in this. What are you referring to?
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updated 12/19/2007 11:14:09 AM ET
Guests: Charlie Black, Kay Henderson, Anne Kornblut, Jill Zuckman, Jonathan Capehart, Jennifer Donahue, Sen. John Edwards, Chip Saltzman, Barbara Comstock
CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: The insurgent. Can John Edwards win Iowa and then New Hampshire into a three-way race?
Let‘s play HARDBALL.
Good evening. I‘m Chris Matthews. Welcome to HARDBALL. We‘re coming to you tonight from Murphy‘s on the Green in Hanover, New Hampshire, just off the campus of Dartmouth College. In exactly three weeks, voters here in New Hampshire will cast their ballots in the country‘s first primary, and these races are getting really, really tight.
We spent the day with John Edwards. We‘ll have our interview with Senator Edwards in just a moment.
On the Republican side, Senator John McCain is fresh off some major newspaper endorsements. Can McCain really build momentum and win this whole thing? Will Mike Huckabee‘s win or possible win out in Iowa help McCain in New Hampshire by bringing down Romney out there? Well, it‘s all connected. Later, we‘ll talk to a top Republican strategist about the final push in that party.
Plus, there‘s a new “USA Today”/Gallup poll out today. Let‘s take a look. Let‘s start with the Republicans. Giuliani is still in the lead at 27 percent. Huckabee‘s right behind him at 16 percent. McCain, Thompson and Romney all have 14, as you can see on the chart. The race is basically, by the way, just about where it was a month ago, back in November. Look at the numbers. They‘re very similar to what they were back a month ago.
In fact, if you look at them now closely, Giuliani is still in the mid-20s, Huckabee‘s in the mid-teens. It‘s fascinating how little that‘s changed in the last month, with all the fuss.
Let‘s take a look at the Democrats. Hillary Clinton has a big, and in fact, growing lead over Obama, believe it or not, despite all the hype for Obama—a few points higher, by the way, if you look at the comparison in November from where she was a month ago. Look, she‘s still on top and she‘s higher than she was. She‘s up to 45 percent, as opposed to 39. She‘s got a substantial lead of 18 points. She was a 15-point leader. She is growing in our national lead.
Well, we‘re in Hanover, New Hampshire, of course the home of Dartmouth College, among other great things. It‘s a wonderful town. It‘s covered in snow up here. It‘s a beautiful day, but it is cold as you can get. We spent the day with John Edwards campaigning. He had Jackson Browne here and Bonnie Raitt with him. He had a big crowd at the town hall here. Let‘s take a look.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Where are the challenges we face? Well, there are lots of them, and one of them is the corporate power, and in some cases corporate greed, that have literally taken over the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: John Edwards doesn‘t like to talk about most polls, except this one. The CNN poll a couple weeks ago showed him all out by himself, beating all the Republicans. He‘s the strongest possible Democratic candidate, if he wins the nomination. Believe it or not, all the hype for Hillary, all the hype for Obama, but if you put somebody in the field against the Republicans, the strongest candidate is the guy we spent the day with.
So let‘s listen to the guy who is now leading in all the numbers as the strongest possible Democratic nominee come next year, John Edwards. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTHEWS: Senator, you were talking about the—let me get the right phrase here—the superficial media coverage of this campaign.
EDWARDS: Hard to believe, isn‘t it.
(LAUGHTER)
MATTHEWS: Well, what do you mean by that?
EDWARDS: Well, I‘ll tell you, I think you guys like to cover the glitz. At least early on, there was a lot of glitz associated with Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. I think that‘s faded some, to be honest with you, and now I think we‘re getting down to the nitty-gritty.
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MATTHEWS: Well, we‘re looking at you right now.
EDWARDS: Good!
MATTHEWS: And I‘m looking at...
EDWARDS: Keep doing it.
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