Like most news junkies, I watch way too much political analysis. Indeed, I have found myself actually taking a break from the nightly chatterfests that trivialize the process with that day’s snapshot of who’s up, who’s down and who’s spinning what.
Having said that, it’s now nigh on to impossible to not watch this current spate of Democratic primaries. And I tend to watch a lot of MSNBC. I like “Hardball” host Chris Matthews when he’s not interrupting, if that’s not too oxymoronic. But I don’t watch “The Countdown” with Keith Olbermann. Haughty and self-important have never appealed.
But when there are actual main events – such as the South Carolina primary, Super Tuesday and the Potomac primaries – the dynamic gets weird when Matthews is paired with Olbermann.
Matthews has been living politics since working for Tip O’Neill and Jimmy Carter. Olbermann, quick of study and wit, is not nearly as steeped in politics – which bespeaks of a guy who came over from ESPN. The chemistry is forced, the collegiality non-existent, the face time vied for. It’s obvious that viewers aren’t the only ones who find Olbermann arrogant.