On top of having to oversee a massive snow removal operation, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty now also to worry about his political standing in the midst of the region’s largest winter storm in decades.

Yesterday on Hardball, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews took Fenty to task for the city’s response to the storm, going so far as to hope out loud that the mayor will be replaced in the coming Democratic primary. “We’ve got a very sophisticated mayor this time, everybody liked him for a while. And I’m telling you, it’s time for a competition in the next primary round here. I think somebody’s gotta run. This city needs a little better effort right now. I’d like to see some action,” he said.

Matthews was joined by D.C. Council member Harry Thomas, Jr. (D-Ward 5), who also criticized Fenty for not asking President Obama to declare a state of emergency for the District, though Thomas did not clarify what exactly federal intervention would provide in terms of immediate snow removal. (In a press conference, Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) made similar calls, asking that the National Guard be called in to help clear snow.)

The segment was rife with hyperbole, with Matthews going so far as to compare the city’s snow response to Hurricane Katrina, and guest Jerry Phillips from WRC/NBC4 actually drew a parallel to Sept. 11, 2001. Unbelievable.