April 27, 2005
A Letter To Chris Matthews
By Cecil Stanton

Mr. Chris Matthews
Host, MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews
400 North Capitol Street, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20001

Dear Chris,

We understand that you will be airing tonight on Hardball, the famous segment from the Republican National Convention in which former Senator Zell Miller challenged you to a duel. It was a dramatic moment in television and we’re so pleased that you have been able to use the segment as a promo to boost the show’s ratings for the last 9 months.

We are even more pleased that you will be playing it again tonight as it will be a great publicity hit for Senator Miller’s new book A Deficit of Decency.

The only question is, in Senator Miller’s absence tonight, will you tell the whole story as to why he was angry with your comments? In chapter 6 (Hardball Huff) of A Deficit of Decency, Zell explains that the reason he challenged you is that before he came on the set you claimed he was an “old time seggy.”

Will you renounce your baseless claim that Senator Miller is a segregationist?

As you may know, following Senator Miller’s challenge, CNBC took and online poll in which they asked who would win the duel. You, of course, received 14% of the vote while Senator Miller garnered 86%.

We wonder if that will be part of the discussion tonight.

Sincerely,
Cecil Staton
President
Stroud and Hall Publishers

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