September 8, 2008 --
THERE'S been a coup against the leftists occupying MSNBC's election anchor desk. Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have been bumped by the Peacock Network, beginning with the upcoming presidential debates and continuing through election night, a spokeswoman said.
David Gregory will be the new political anchor, while Matthews and Olbermann will return to their nightly shows, "Hardball" and "Countdown," respectively.
The benching of the blowhards comes amid accusations that the pair has been shilling for the Democratic ticket.
When Barack Obama accepted his party's nomination, Matthew's hard-hitting critique of the speech was that it sent a thrill up his leg.
Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell recently called MSNBC "the official network of the Obama campaign."
Angry Republicans made their feelings known during Sarah Palin's vice-presidential acceptance speech. When the Alaska governor got to the media-bashing section of her speech, the GOP faithful could be heard chanting, "NBC! NBC!"
But the hatred directed toward Matthews and Olbermann by Republicans is nothing compared to the daggers they've been hurling at each other and their NBC colleagues.
During the Democratic convention, Olbermann appeared to be upset by Matthew's long-winded analysis of Hillary Rodham Clinton's speech. Olbermann made a hand-gesture imitating a flapping mouth. Matthews shot back, "I can do the same to you!" and defended his commentary, saying, "That's what I thought, all right?"
The bickering and infighting has caused embarrassment among colleagues and may have caused the ax to fall.
NBC news legend Tom Brokaw recently said, "I think Keith has gone too far. I think Chris has gone too far."
An insider told The Post that Olbermann responded by pushing to have Brokaw banned from MSNBC.
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