With the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) starting Thursday, March 14, Rachel Maddow, appearing on the Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno on March 11, recalled her pleasant encounter at the Media Research Center booth at CPAC in 2010.
A few years ago, the MRC produced ‘Stomp Out The Liberal Media’ mats featuring numerous MSNBC personalities, including Chris Matthews and Keith Olberman. Maddow recalled her experience with the MRC as such:
They had made -- I work at MSNBC, and they had made doormats with MSNBC hosts on the doormats… Which I thought was kind of awesome. Merchandising for us. Thank you. [See video after jump. MP3 audio here.]
While we may have many disagreements with Maddow’s political ideology, she was extremely gracious and pleasant while at our booth in 2010 and three years later her sentiments seem to remain positive.
By contrast, her more conservative colleague, S.E. Cupp of The Cycle, has famously boycotted CPAC this year, claiming it's because she disagrees with the group forbidding gay conservative group GOProud from sponsoring the convention. Cupp, however, gladly attended last year, when she was promoting her 2010 book "Losing Our Religion."
See relevant transcript below.
NBC
The Tonight Show w/ Jay Leno
March 12, 2013
12:23 a.m. EDT
JAY LENO: Now, CPAC -- that convention is this week, right?
RACHEL MADDOW: The conservative convention that’s right.
LENO: I assume you are not invited.
MADDOW: I went one year.
LENO: Did you go one year?
MADDOW: I did one year. And I had one guy scream at me in an escalator and got spit all over my face. But aside from that, people were very nice. They had made -- I work at MSNBC, and they had made doormats with MSNBC hosts on the doormats.
LENO: Oh, that's nice.
MADDOW: Which I thought was kind of awesome. Merchandising for us. Thank you. But, yeah, it's a big conservative confab.
