Chris Matthews comments on SOTU: “I forgot he was black…”

Chris Matthews reminded everyone last night how much it must suck to have to react to things like the State of the Union address on live TV.

In what appears to be the clumsiest compliment ever recorded on live television, Chris Matthews, chatting with Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, begins to wax lyrical about how “post racial” the president appears to him. There are several clips floating around, but the clip below, a slightly longer version, seems to provide more context for the remarks. (Of course, some might say he was trying to dig himself out from his ill-thought out turn of phrase, but I think Matthews was genuine in what he thought was praise.)

Matthews will undoubtedly not hear the end of this for a while, but do you think it was a bit of clumsy, old fashioned attitude showing through (remember, VP Joe Biden and Harry Reid have made similar poorly received comments) or something more inexcusable?