The Spectre of a Senator Chris Matthews (D-Penn.)
EmailYes, Pennsylvania, it’s true: Chris Matthews thinks he should be your senator.
The Patriot News reports the MSNBC host is "continues to talk with top Democrats about the possibility" of running for Senate in 2010 against Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Penn.
Matthews, 62, met with Democratic State Committee Chairman T.J. Rooney and executive director Mary Isenhour in Washington, D.C. "to discuss the logistics involved in a Senate run. Isenhour said she left that meeting convinced Matthews has not made up his mind about running."
Now while it’s true that the non-partisan political tipsheet the Cook Political Report says Specter is one of the four most vulnerable senators of the 35 up for reelection in two years, others wonder if the outspoken cable guy would really be the Democrats’ best chance.
Others say he should get off the air until he makes up his mind. Such as former Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer, who blogs: "If Matthews is going to run as a Democrat in what will likely be a contested primary, will he be willing to play hardball when his fellow Democrats are in the news? How could he do an interview with Ed Rendell? How could he be trusted to cover the Obama transition and other political issues without fear or favor? More to the point, will viewers think he is covering politics without fear or favor?"
And so on.
What say you?
– jpt
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I’m not aware of Mr. Matthews having any qualifications for the senate beyond being a TV/news personality. Maybe Mr. Olberman, also from MSNBC, will follow his lead.
Posted by: kat | December 1, 2008, 6:04 pm 6:04 pm
i always thought of matthews as a right winger… except the last year or so he seemed to turn a bit moderate… and now he’s running as a democrat?… i’m from PA and can tell you that Specter (although not a far right republican) is a spineless republican and will easily be defeated (remember anita hill and his merciless disgusting grilling of her?!) … he is so spineless it makes me sick… talks tough then always cowers to the right… even matthews would be better, but i hope a true progressive democrat runs against him instead
Posted by: earthisnotflat | December 1, 2008, 6:06 pm 6:06 pm
FYI…
Way back in April during the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary, Matthews strongly hinted on The Colbert Report that he would run for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat in 2010.
Also, it’s worth noting that Matthews’ contract with MSNBC comes up very soon (June 2009), and he still hasn’t renewed it, say, through the 2012 Presidential election… which is what Keith Olbermann just did earlier this month (for $7.5 million a year, btw), even though Olbermann was less than two years into his four-year contract.
Hmmm…
Posted by: Robogeek | December 1, 2008, 6:06 pm 6:06 pm
rachel maddow would be 100x better
Posted by: earthisnotflat | December 1, 2008, 6:09 pm 6:09 pm
I watch his show, and he’s funny, he could shut up every now and then and let somebody answer the question…… but his show is Politics and rarely on substance….
Unless the other guy running is a total evangelical moron……I could not vote for him…….
Posted by: Blue | December 1, 2008, 6:25 pm 6:25 pm
Kat, re: qualifications…
Excerpts from Wikipedia:
“[Matthews] served on the staffs of four Democratic members of Congress, including Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie. He campaigned for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1974, losing his party’s nomination to Pennsylvania Congressman Joshua Eilberg in the Democratic primary. Matthews received about 23% of the vote. He was a presidential speechwriter for four years during the Carter administration. Matthews later worked six years as a top aide to long-time Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O’Neill, playing a direct role in many key political battles with the Reagan administration.
“Matthews worked as a print journalist for 15 years, spending 13 years as Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief for The San Francisco Examiner (1987 – 2000), and two years as a nationally syndicated columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. Matthews covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa and the Good Friday Peace Talks in Northern Ireland. In 1997 and 1998, his research in the National Archives produced a series of exclusives on the Nixon presidential tapes. Matthews has covered American presidential election campaigns since 1988.”
Posted by: Robogeek | December 1, 2008, 6:31 pm 6:31 pm
I Say, Bring it on, Matthews!! There are a heck of a lot of Hillary supporters are waiting to vote against you if you try to run in Pa. You have treated her like crap when she was running in the primaries, as you now admit you were in the toilet for Obama. Can’t wait for the Puma’s and Hill’s supporters to throw you out of the state. You forget even the Dem’s like Arlen!!
Posted by: Saa1950 | December 1, 2008, 6:35 pm 6:35 pm
The circus that is our government continues. Al Franken and now Chris Matthews. The lunatics are really running the nuthouse now.
Posted by: Going crazy | December 1, 2008, 6:58 pm 6:58 pm
Carpetbagger? Please! He grew up in N.E. Philly.
Posted by: yophilly | December 1, 2008, 7:01 pm 7:01 pm
Matthews hasn’t lived in Pa for 40 years!!!!!!! That’s a carpetbagger!! We don’t need him here, he is a drooling fool!!!
Posted by: Saa1950 | December 1, 2008, 7:08 pm 7:08 pm
No wonder Chris Matthews showed absolutely no balance this election season and had that old tingle down his leg thing for Obama. He should now stop masquerading as an objective reporter. Call me old school, I like my journalists to be objective and unbiased and just report the facts.
Posted by: hopesprings52 | December 1, 2008, 7:18 pm 7:18 pm
Tweety ANY day is better than that old GWBush sidekick A.Specter. I mean gimme a break. Downside is the terrible way Matthews horribly dissed Hillary Clinton so badly this year. Still, compared to Specter, I’d vote for Chris.
Posted by: buzzie | December 1, 2008, 7:27 pm 7:27 pm
Thanks, Robogeek. I thought maybe he was just a former sportscaster judging from his rapid vociferous sort of delivery, that or a wrestling match referee.
Posted by: kat | December 1, 2008, 7:34 pm 7:34 pm
I agree with Mr. Singer’s comments: how could Mr. Matthews possibly demonstrate impartiality as a reporter/commentator if he is in the process of deciding to run as a Dem? The term “conflict of interest” seems to apply here, whether Mr. Matthews believes it or not.
Posted by: chuck | December 1, 2008, 8:34 pm 8:34 pm
Chris Matthews will have no problem being just as objective as he has in over the last couple of years.
Now, what’s the chances of some Clinton-sabotage? Also, I’ve never witnessed Mattews in a “deliberative mode”. How’s that going to work in the Senate?
Posted by: bluecollarbytes | December 1, 2008, 8:38 pm 8:38 pm
paybacks are h#|| …
I suspect that a number of the folks with whom CM has played hardball will be lining up for their pitch … hope CM is up for some time in the dunk tank.
His opinions are not as universal as he can proclaim them as a television pundit.
Posted by: OneObservation | December 1, 2008, 8:45 pm 8:45 pm
i wish he would leave msnbc and not be able to go back. and i hope he loses his senate race.
he is to high strung-maybe he would be best as a sports reporter.
Posted by: what? | December 1, 2008, 8:49 pm 8:49 pm
Of course Mr. Matthews does not have qualifications to run for senate. Look at the President-elect for crying out loud. The democrat management understands that they can sell almost anyone to the masses unless it in some way interferes with the masses viewership of American Idol or Dancing with the Stars. All it takes is some popularity and—-no substance.
Posted by: Daniel | December 1, 2008, 9:01 pm 9:01 pm
Daniel is exactly right! Matthews should spend a couple years serving as mayor of an obscure, one-moose town in Alaska — then a few months as Governor of Alaska as a faux populist who lobbies for federal pork on the side — before he is fully prepared to run for a national office as a serious, highly experienced hockey-dad..! He might want to consider joining the Pennsylvania Secessionist movement, while he’s at it.
Posted by: Tom | December 1, 2008, 10:03 pm 10:03 pm
Matthews has served in other capacities than as a journalist. And he has a love and appreciation for the Constitution.
Posted by: Bruce Becker | December 1, 2008, 11:12 pm 11:12 pm
Mr. Matthews has publicly stated his job as a journalist is to ensure the success of the Obama administration. This sounds more like campaign rhetoric than objective, unbiased journalism. Mr. Matthews, run if you want, but please stop pretending to be what you are not.
Posted by: Brett | December 1, 2008, 11:40 pm 11:40 pm
Dear Tom: Your guy won. You can relax for a couple of years.
Posted by: Jim Treacher | December 1, 2008, 11:47 pm 11:47 pm
Chris Matthews is a joke, he certainly is not a true journalist and he has no place in politics, it would be adding another idiot to the senate. This man is a complete and utter idiot and if he can stop drooling long enough maybe he would realize that he is a tabloid type Journalist and at worst a dribbling idiot, I hope the people of Pennsylvania are smart enough not to elect him for dog catcher.
Posted by: Mary | December 1, 2008, 11:51 pm 11:51 pm
I am not sure why anyone is surprised by NBC’s [MSNBC’s] liberal slant – look at their lineup. They are journalists in the similar category of the rags such as the Star, National Inquirer, etc.; they make the news, not report it. I hope Americans finally look at GE’s propaganda tools and boycott their products. Yahoos: that’s what the GE/NBC/MSNBC teams are – Yahoos. -Julian of Chicago
Posted by: Julian | December 2, 2008, 2:54 am 2:54 am
Mr. Matthews may have grown up in Phila., but he doesn’t live in PA now. So he has no business trying to represent us. He has NO idea what our needs are.
As for those who say he shouldn’t be on the air until he decides if he’s running, he’s already publicly stated he’d do everything he can to make sure that Obama succeeds. Does that mean he did everything he could to make sure President Bush failed?
As for interviewing “Fast Eddie” Rendell – you couldn’t make him look good if you tried.
Posted by: ellsbells930 | December 2, 2008, 6:27 am 6:27 am
“Mr. Matthews has publicly stated his job as a journalist is to ensure the success of the Obama administration. This sounds more like campaign rhetoric than objective, unbiased journalism. Mr. Matthews, run if you want, but please stop pretending to be what you are not. ”
LOL….and people said the media is not biased. What ever happened to my job as a journalist is to FAIRLY REPORT THE NEWS.
It is NOT to make or distort the news!
Posted by: Mike_C | December 2, 2008, 8:36 am 8:36 am
Did journalists raise similar questions when Bush was brazenly recruiting people from Fox like his press secy, or when former Bush officials joined fox as “fair and balanced” observers (like Rove)?
Posted by: Jon | December 2, 2008, 11:00 am 11:00 am
Did journalists raise similar questions when Bush was brazenly recruiting people from Fox like his press secy,
DUH, where would you think he find a PRESS Sec.????
I’m sure you would have prefered he had picked Tom Brokaw……
Posted by: Mike_C | December 2, 2008, 11:55 am 11:55 am
Sen. Specter will be 80 years old when he runs again in 2010. Wouldn’t Matthews be a welcome change?
Posted by: Erin13, Ft. Lee, NJ | December 2, 2008, 12:26 pm 12:26 pm
Ha! Is anyone seriously concerned about Matthews’ credibility as a journalist? What journalist? What credibility?
Posted by: Annie | December 2, 2008, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
Like him or not, he loves America and he loves politics.
Posted by: Brooklyn Democrat | December 2, 2008, 6:18 pm 6:18 pm
Chris Matthews has turned himself into a cartoon character as a journalist – if I have to vote Republican for the first time in 32 years to get a grown up representing me in 2010 then I guess Arlen’s my man.
Posted by: Jerry Spegman | December 2, 2008, 9:32 pm 9:32 pm
Erin13 said “Wouldn’t Matthews be a welcome change?” In a word: NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: ellsbells930 | December 2, 2008, 9:41 pm 9:41 pm
The man wears his Democratic heart on his sleeve. Only a fellow Democrat could ask such a stupid question (“Can he cover the issues without fear or favor?”).
Posted by: unclesmrgol | January 22, 2010, 9:38 pm 9:38 pm