Matthews: Dems Today Care Only About ‘Interest Groups,’ ‘Protecting Your Rear End’

‘That’s what it’s beginning to look like lately as the president fades’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
MATTHEWS: "I think a lot of people are under union discipline now, they don't want to make enemies of organized labor, they're opposing it because of pressure. I think that's how --" 
ANCHOR: "Hillary Clinton, does she have to pick a side, be more clear about a position?" 
MATTHEWS: "This morning, Al hunt made the point from Bloomberg that she ought to do a sister soldier moment and say she's for straight. Intellectually I think she probably is for the trade deal. But the pressure on her from all the democratic interest groups now, and this goes to the issue of Iran, everything you think about right now, all the usual interest groups, the pro-israeli hardliners, people like that, all saying which side are you on. The Democratic Party is not unified now. It's coming apart. You see it. It's devolving. And so everybody -- it's every man for himself, every politician for themselves now. And that's what's going on. Every issue that comes up now, they're not looking at the leadership of the White House. They're thinking how do they save their butts politically. And Hillary's thinking about does she want to make enemies with organized labor. Probably no. 
ANCHOR: "Every man, these days, every man and woman for themselves. We'll wait and see. We're listening to her now --" 
MATTHEWS: "A comment, Thomas. The Democratic Party, if you care about the party, does well when it's more than the sum of its parts. Under the Clintons, the Kennedy administration, it was always for something bigger than just a bunch of interest groups. And the minute it becomes just interest groups, it gets about 44%. It loses the next general election. Has to be for something. Commanding something national, something unifying, something, okay, inspiring. It can't just be protect your rear end. And unfortunately, that's what it's beginning to look like lately as the president fades, you know, the president's fading into his later part of his second term. And they're just doing everything for themselves. It makes sense politically. It's not nice to look at, though."

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