Co-anchor Chris Matthews: "I have to tell you, you know, it’s part of reporting this case, this election, the feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My — I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often."

Co-anchor Keith Olbermann: "Steady."

Matthews: No, seriously. It's a dramatic event. He speaks about America in a way that has nothing to do with politics. It has to do with the feeling we have about our country. And that is an objective assessment."

"We know that wind can make a cold day feel colder, but can national pride make a freezing day feel warmer? It seems to be the case because regardless of the final crowd number estimates, never have so many people shivered so long with such joy. From above, even the seagulls must have been awed by the blanket of humanity."

"I'm not that convinced that that's her baby....The daughter — who we know is fertile because she's knocked up again, or maybe for the first time...she did like take a five-month leave from high school because she had [uses fingers to indicate quote marks] 'mononucleosis' right around the time the baby was being born. And the mother, the so-called, you know, okay, maybe it is the mother, but, you know, she was back to work three days later. You don't smell something?...It's not like they're not willing to lie about everything else."

"Not doing it [fighting global warming] will be catastrophic. We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but in 30 or 40 years, and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals. Civilization will have broken down."

Bill Maher earned the "Quote of the Year" distinction as voted by the audience. After attendees saw all the videos in the four categories, MRC President Brent Bozell invited the presenters and acceptors back on stage (Monica Crowley, Mark Levin, Andrew Breitbart, Joe Wurzelbacher and Ed Meese) to assess audience reaction to each of the winning quotes from Chris Matthews, Bill Weir, Bill Maher and Ted Turner.

The videos were re-played and then, as a picture of each nominee was displayed, audience members were asked by Bozell to hoot, cheer and applaud to express their opinion on which quote deserved the Quote of the Year designation as the worst bias of 2008. It was a close call between two of the quotes, and so the judges asked for a run-off between Chris Matthews' "thrill going up my leg" and Bill Maher's looney conspiracy theorizing about how Sarah Palin's baby was really born to daughter Bristol.

Joe Wurzelbacher then stepped forward to announce Bill Maher as the winner.

William F. Buckley Jr. (1925-2008) is the intellectual cornerstone of the modern conservative movement. His founding of National Review magazine in 1955 provided the home base for conservatives in an America seemingly overrun by liberalism. With NR, and as host of television’s Firing Line for 33 years, William F. Buckley Jr. spread the cause, helped rally conservatives during the Cold War, was instrumental in helping Ronald Reagan win the presidency — twice — and continues to provide the intellectual ammunition, along with grace and wit, to strengthen conservatives in the on-going battles to preserve liberty, peace and justice in America.

In addition to NR, Mr. Buckley has written 40 books, publishes a regular column syndicated to 300 newspapers, and pens longer articles for magazines and other outlets. He has educated and inspired thousands of conservatives, especially young men and women, through his articles, books and TV appearances. These young conservatives have followed Mr. Buckley’s example and relayed the conservative message across the country and through various media, particularly the New Media: cable TV, talk radio and the Internet.

Fifty-nine years ago, William F. Buckley Jr. circumvented the liberal media’s "Berlin Wall" of bias with imagination and tenacity. His intellectual progeny now populate the airwaves and cyberspace, leaving the old liberal media in the dustbin of history. To recognize and honor the very best of these new conservative leaders, the Media Research Center is proud to announce the annual William F. Buckley Jr. Award for Media Excellence.