On yesterday’s pre-debate episode of Hardball, Chris Matthews and his favorite Damsel Duo, Salon’s Joan Walsh and IWF president Michelle Bernard–he brings them on to talk about women’s issues-related stuff; the former skews liberal, and the latter, conservative–discussed the precarious gender dynamic that was to be a part of last night’s debate. Matthews, taking advantage of the fact that he had two highly intelligent, well-educated women in his midst, and apparently having heard the rumor that the debate would be seated, rather than podium-ed, knew what he was going to ask them. “Here’s a great question,” he said. “It’s not in the Brooks Brothers book of etiquette, but I’m going to ask it anyway.”
Here was Matthews’s’ Great Question about the Biden/Palin dynamic: “Does he dare reach over–instinctively or well-trained or whatever–and help her with her chair from behind?”
Yeah. Somewhere, Edward R. Murrow is cringing. And: “I think he helps her,” they agreed. Which, you know: riveting.
And also, in retrospect, a complete waste of time. Because, of course…there were no chairs last night. The candidates stood the entire time. Rendering an already silly exchange utterly, ultimately useless.
