Chris Matthews: Obama Getting 'Intellectually Lazy'

President Barack Obama is getting "intellectally lazy" in his second term, appointing deputies when someone retires rather than trying to find someone just as qualified as his or her predecessor, MSNBC's Chris Matthews said Wednesday on "Hardball."

"Is this the problem of a second term that presidents get lazy, intellectually lazy, and cut off from the country and they start picking deputies for jobs instead of looking for the best people?" Matthews asked. "The lazy thing to do is, somebody leaves, you promote their deputy.

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"This is, I think, part of the endemic problem of second terms."

Presidents should look for outside people, Matthews said. "Or else they get atrophied into that little world of people like [senior adviser] Valerie [Jarrett] and Mrs. Obama and you're just listening to the same voices all the time."

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