Chris Matthews Senate Run Speculation Fueled By Meeting With Pennsylvania Democrats

Los Angeles Times:

The Northeast's dwindling cast of Senate Republicans has Democrats circling Arlen Specter's seat in Pennsylvania, convinced the party is well-positioned to make a competitive race out of the 2010 election.

Leading the pack of prospects -- at least in celebrity -- is Chris Matthews, the MSNBC "Hardball" host and a former Capitol Hill Democratic staffer. The Philadelphia native has been toying with a run for months, and this week he sat down with state Democrats to discuss the prospect of taking on the five-term GOP senator.

Others considered in the mix include Rep. Joe Sestak, who is sitting on $3 million in campaign funds; state Rep. Josh Shapiro; and U.S. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz, a two-term Philadelphia area lawmaker who has moved up quickly on the Hill and has a Rolodex full of prospective donors from her unsuccessful 2000 Senate run. "We'll see," she said about a repeat bid.

"There are a lot of compelling reasons why serious Democrats would aspire to run in 2010," said Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney, who said Matthews had been in Pennsylvania Monday meeting with other Democratic leaders.

Read the whole story: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[pros54]

I am inclined to make a donation to his campaign if he runs. He is a loud mouth but appears to have his head in the right place and he has a head with gray matter in it and that is mostly what mattters. All those whining about his savaging Senator Clinton should go back and count the number of his comments that were not objective if they will get off their emotions.

[dissanayake]

I agree- He actually had the audacity to say that Sanator Clinton won the Sanate seat "because people felt sorry for her" That is an insult to the voters and to a women,with the courage and intelligance to work with the very sanators that moved to impeach her husband over a private incident. The universal support, that the Sanator has received to her nomnation to the DOD is proof itself, of her ability to work across the isle. Who's sorry now!? Go away Chris....RETIRE.

[KansAmerican]

Chris Matthews shouldn't be considered for any office, senator, or any other, as a Democrat. He was raised in a strict Republican household and still has that kind of influence. Matthews clearly demonstrated he is not at all a convinced Democrat by his performance on Hardball. During the presidential campaign, he butchered a fine candidate, Hillary Clinton, every evening on the HARDBALL program. He would not be a reliable, trustworthy Democrat. We do not need another Lieberman. Pennsylvania possesses many hundreds of other possible candidates much more suitable than Matthews.

[OtayPanky]

He's no more republican than Hillary Clinton. Both supported Barry Goldwater as college students, but became Democrats early in life.

From his wikipedia bio:

===

As a young man, Matthews supported Barry Goldwater, but was inspired to become a Democrat by Eugene McCarthy's anti-Vietnam war platforms. When Matthews first arrived in Washington he worked as an armed officer with the United States Capitol Police.[1] Subsequently, he 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.[2] 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.[

===

There are plenty of reasons not to support Matthews for senator, but his family's political beliefs isn't one of them. You sound just like the kooks who knock Barack because his father was African.

Smarten up.

[lioness39]

Matthews was loudly and clearly in the Obama camp. He even went on Letterman and spoke of his excitement at Obama's win. Chris is no republican.

[kissmygrits]

Agree. I think he's into O, but it's not based on Dem affiliation, but on personality really. Matthews blows with the wind; he's not deeply into issues, but fluff. (Not saying O's fluff, just that he loves the guy - who doesn't?!)

[Bosoxfan]

Ah, the Great WIndbag trying to become a member of the club of biggest windbags in the world. There's no narcissism in his family, he has it all.Like Palin, I wish he would just go away.

[mater]

He's an intelligent man, but he never lets anyone finish a sentence or a thought. He spits and talks over people. He inserts himself into the points other resource people on his show make. He should speak to a morror. He's not mean or hurtful, just no manners or conversation skills--he never has a dialogue --he just loudly gives a perpetual lecture from his own perspective. He probably wouldn't be a worse Senator than the other 99, buthe would have to get used to people not being focused on him each day. I am always so relieved when Mike Barnicle takes over for Mathews. I think HE should be the PRIME choice for moderator on MEET THE PRESS--he knows how to question people and how to listen and make their ideas valuable.

[Witchitalineman]

I agree EXCEPT for Mike Barnicle and his taking over Meet the Press.

[mamacat]

Matthews went overboard with his criticism of Sen. Clinton in the primaries, so he is starting off with some powerful enemies. He is smart, but not terribly politic. Good luck to him, but I foresee some pretty big obstacles in his way.

[thebluecrayon]

Chris Matthews is no match for Arlen Specter. Spector has the support of lots of moderate Dems in PA and they won't be pried away easily. I can already see the compilations of all the idiotic things Matthews has said on air as a series of political ads. Specter will have Matthews for lunch in their first debate. I don't like him as a senator, but he hasn't gotten to be such a long-time senator by being stupid.

From the article "Almost six in 10 Pennsylvanians said in an August Quinnipiac University poll that they approve of Specter's job performance -- higher than the ratings for Gov. Edward G. Rendell and Sen. Bob Casey, both Democrats. And Specter has raised $6 million for his re-election run in the last two years, more than any of his colleagues during the period."

Of those mentioned, I'd like to see Sestak but I don't know if he can match Specter. Schwartz is shrewd, has done great work on many important issues like healthcare but she is very much a smooth politician.

[rob2007]

Be uninteresting to see Matthews debating his opponent, constantly cutting him off mid-sentence. Obama made a point of stressing during election night that he would always listen to us. Matthews is so busy formulating his follow-up question that he never listens to anybody.

[thebluecrayon]

You nailed it.

[robbie44]

I guess you didn’t watch him not say a word as Bachman sunk her own ship.

[AsISaid]

Matthews has a great political mind. He also is a policy wonk - you can tell from the questions he asks that he has depth. He worked on Capitol Hill in a different time, but he worked for pragmatic Democrats and I can see that in his nightly presentations too. I think Obama's campaign loosened the juices again within him. Sometimes, you can't go back, however. Former staffers make great legislators for the most part, because they actually do the background work and fully develop ideas. I think his candidacy would be intriguing, but I doubt that he'd be the candidate ultimately. I doubt that he's get much help from the Clintons or their supporters in Pennsylvania.

[meemu]

I like Chris Matthews. He may not always be correct, but I do believe he is honest in his intentions. That's better than many of the politicians we've had over the years.

[Klimb]

Spot on...the state of mind this country needs to stay sane! Matthews will do well for Americans...

[Bitsko]

Couldn't Matthews be accused of being a Beltway Insider? I'll put my money right now on Rep. Sestak, "who is sitting on $3 million in campaign funds."

[CranialRectalLoopback]

How about the Dem's select an ACTUAL DEMOCRAT to run.

[campaignman]

Arlen Spector has been a marvelous Senator. He's been largely bi-partisan. Still, he has fought cancer twice and it is time that someone else get a chance to represent the people of PA. It is not a life-time appointment. I urge Spector to retire gracefully.

As for Chris Matthews, he is a dynamic individual but all his views are not known. He has had to keep his views on many subjects to himself. He needs to spell out his views on Israel, abortion, Social Security, Medicare, torture, infrastructure spending, bailing out New York's finance industry and Detroit's car industry, and more.

I think he is a viable candidate but I would want to know the views of the various contenders before picking the right person.

[WmC]

"A marvelous Senator?" . . . If memory serves me, he would take an admirable stand on principle, then reverse himself in a week or so, as soon as he started taking flak from his fellow Republicans. Seems to me this happened repeatedly: regarding torture, Abu Ghraib, extraordinary rendiiton, FISA, etc.

[wiseraven]

Chris Matthews worked in Speaker of the House Tip O'neill's office prior to becoming a tv journalist. He's a longtime Democrat. He is more qualified than some other political contenders, of late.

[apoyo]

He suffers from foot in mouth disease. He won't make it thru the first debate.

[Daniboy]

How can Chris be a Dem-I thought he was down the center journalist who did election night broadcasting for NBC? I really thought by his fair interviews that he leaned more right!

[LMKay66]

He's a commentator, not a journalist. Therefore he can be biased whichever way he wants.

[robbie44]

pundit not an anchor..........but i feel ya!