Chris Matthews

“Let's play hardball.”

“I get a thrill up my leg every time I hear him speak.”

“Politics is a contact sport.”

“I have a love/hate relationship with the city of Washington.”

“The purpose of politics is to make life better for people.”

“My job is to be a Bell Curve, to be in the middle.”

“Every election is a verdict on the last four years.”

“It's not the most intellectual job in the world, but I do have to know the letters.”

“The key to life is to be a realist, but to have an optimistic spirit.”

“I'm more of a synthesizer. I'm not interested in doing a lot of original research. I have a talent for finding the paradigm and framing the question.”

“I think the press has a tendency to be a pack.”

“Washington is a city of conversations. A lot of it is gossip.”

“People want to know, 'Who's on my side?'”

“I’m not a journalist, I’m a columnist. I’m a commentator.”

“The President of the United States is the most powerful person in the world.”

“He's the first African-American president. That's a big deal.”

“I'm a Catholic kid from Philadelphia.”