Chris Matthews: 'If Obama Wins It Will Be a Time When the World Once Again Looks at us With Wonder'

It was Tuesday afternoon around 2:30 p.m., and Chris Matthews had been up since early in the morning, working the phones, jotting down notes, marveling at American democracy and the turnout in North Carolina, thinking about Roosevelt, and Truman, and J.F.K. In a few short hours, he would be on the air at MSNBC, guiding viewers through the returns.

Already, his mind was racing.

"If Obama wins it will be a time when the world once again looks at us with wonder," Mr. Matthews told The Observer.

"The great thing about America is that people have always looked at this country and said, How do they do it?" said Mr. Matthews. "How do they win at everything? How do they invent everything? Why is America where all the modern drugs are created, where all the modern technology comes from? What is it about the American reality that is so, almost, miraculously novel? I think if Barack wins that will be the message. People will once again look at us with wonder."

And if McCain wins?

"If McCain pulls it out, I think it's a testament to his grit," said Mr. Matthews. "And because the country wasn't ready for too big of a change and resisted what looked to be too big a leap."

"But my feeling is that this country has almost always in times of crisis made the leap," Mr. Matthews continued. "That's why people came to this country. You know why? Because they couldn't live with the way things were. We are the children of the people who came to this country because they wouldn't put up with mediocrity."

The question, said Mr. Matthews, is whether Americans will get behind the guy once he's in office, the way they got behind him on the campaign trail. "Having given him the ball, are they going to let him shoot?" said Mr. Matthews. "Are they going to let him take the outside shot? Are they going to root for him? Are they going to rally to him? Or are they going to stand back and say, 'let's see if he can do it?'"

"I think it's very important not to do one of these scorched earth things on the other side where Bill Kristol writes a column every week trying to bring down the government like he did with the Clintons," said Mr. Matthews. "I think that's rotten. I think this guy deserves a shot. Bush got his shot. The country rallied behind him and gave him his tax cut and supported him through 9/11 and this war."

"I think this guy ought to get his shot."