Chris Matthews' Insult to Pennsylvania Voters

Having grown up outside of Philadelphia, I just want to say I really hope Chris Matthews runs for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, and is humiliatingly obliterated in a Democratic primary (preferably by a good progressive like, for instance, former Rep. Joe Hoeffel).* The sense of entitlement that this blowhard personifies is truly stunning. He's spent his entire life as a principle-free political gossip in Washington - a human embodiment of all that is sick and wrong with Beltway culture. And yet, he really thinks he can just parachute into one of the largest states in the country, buy a mansion in Philadelphia and be a senator on sheer celebrity alone. I mean, maybe he can - maybe politics is now so devoid of meaning that this is just the way it is. But I really hope not.

The difference between, say, a Chris Matthews moving to Philadelphia and running for the Senate and an Al Franken moving back to Minnesota and running for Senate, of course, is that Franken has clear convictions. Franken has never ever been about just getting Al Franken's mug on television - he was a total die-hard progressive, and at points in his career, that progressivism undoubtedly made his media career harder. His run for the senate, then, was about the principles he's been advocating for decades (personally knowing Al, I think it was mostly about that for him, but even his critics would admit it's at least partially about that - whereas you can't with a straight face make the same case about Matthews).

Matthews, on the other hand, stands for absolutely his own career and by extension Beltway culture (and I don't think being for those things is an "ideology" or a "set of principles" in the same way advocating for a set of issues is). He's a guy so completely out of touch with economic reality that he insisted to the New York Times that he and his $5 million salary are not "part of the winner's circle in American life." As the Politico notes, he wants to "fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming a senator" - that is, he doesn't want to fulfill his boyhood dream of enacting universal health care or ending the war or some other cause, his dream is to simply BE a U.S. Senator - and, indeed, it doesn't even matter from where. It's not even his dream to become PENNSYLVANIA'S U.S. Senator - it's just to BE an officeholder.

In that sense, Matthews really does represent the worst in American politics - the antithesis of a community-organizer-turned-state-senator like Barack Obama taking a longshot run at Illinois' seat, the opposite of longtime state legislators and hometown boys like Jon Tester and Jeff Merkley running for seats in Montana and Oregon. Matthews is a wealthy celebrity who sees absolutely no problem with parachuting into a state to use his cash to try to fulfill his boyhood dream of personal self-aggrandizement - and bragging to reporters that even before he has residency in the state he and his family handed down their decision to run to Pennsylvania voters from the Matthews vacation compound in Nantucket.

I mean, come on - are you really going to argue Matthews will run to, say, help save the working-class parts of Pennsylvania decimated by the corporate-written economic policies he's either cheered on or ignored as a pundit? Are you really going to argue that after expressing such fanboy worship of George W. Bush and his "amazing display of leadership" in the lead-up to the Iraq War that Matthews is really deciding to run for the Senate because, dammit, he's just so adamantly opposed to this war?

Really, the entire concept of Matthews for Senate is the metastasized cancer of presidentialism. We worship the president as a celebrity, and now Matthews wants us to simply worship celebrity - any celebrity - as the foundational reason to be elected to any office. To Matthews, the Senate race clearly has nothing to do with Pennsylvania and everything to do with a convenient vehicle to higher status in the city he really represents: Washington, D.C.

It's a cynical insult to Pennsylvania voters - as if none of the state's 12 million residents are qualified for the Senate, as if those 12 million poor souls need the Great Chris Matthews to swoop in from his mansion in Washington, D.C. to save them. What a joke. Let's hope Matthews does run and the Democratic primary makes him the punchline.

* I mention Joe because he's an old friend and was the first solid progressive from Pennsylvania who came to mind - not because I have any inkling that he's even thinking of doing it. In other words, I just mention him to point out that there are lots of good progressives in Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: For a stroll down Chris Matthews' memory lane - and to show you how inappropriate a candidate this guy really is, see here.

Comments

[Sideswiped]

Chris Matthews is a fop of the first order. While he is well read he is not well informed nor is he qualified to be a member of the US Senate. His qualification as a talking head that gives him access to spin while also making him one of the randy dandies regarding his wanton total disregard for woman and how he thinks he is the king stud of the world with his sexually laced commentary and inuendo makes me wonder what his substance and character are all about. What do we know about him anyway and once and if this chalatan makes it into politics he would more than likely keep his machine so well oiled that he would never get out of the way of himself nor his ill concieved policies.

[editorjuno]

Matthews exhibits a childlike enthusiasm for politics as a game along with unflagging nostalgia for the DC halls of power as they were during the latter half of the last century. He loves "the process" as such and fawns over larger-than-life personalities -- the Kennedys, LBJ, Reagan, and of course his mentor O'Neill -- capable of shaping and dominating it, but he doesn't seem to have any favored principle(s) of governance per se.

As a Pennsylvanian, I suppose I'd vote for him over Specter, who is way past his expiration date and who throughout the Bush-Cheney years has been prone to posturing over important matters in lieu of actually standing up for anything -- but I'd do so without any confidence that he'd be all that much of an improvement. In a way, Chris Matthews would be a perfect fit for the U.S. Senate -- and that's why I'm hoping someone else gets the Dem nod, because the institution itself is so moribund that a sixty-something DC insider with no discernible goal other than attaining office is hardly what it needs.

[nananance]

As a Pennsylvania resident, I will never vote for Chris Matthews (unless perhaps he runs against Keith Olbermann). He's fun to watch on occasion but his bias against women, especially Sen. Hillary Clinton, is despicable. And Arlen Spector is a good senator, not a Rick santorum.

[racetoinfinity]

Had to comment. He just expressed a modicum of sympathy for O.J.(getting sentenced for his sociopathic crime spree in Las Vegas hotel) and concluded that he "hung around with a bad crowd".

Do we really want something that thick in the Senate? (I know we have more than a few, but let's not add more.)

[Physicsmom]

Right on, David. Chris Matthews is a lightweight. He has plenty of ambition, not so much substance; his views are shaped by the wind. I can hardly stand to watch him anymore. He'll get one half-baked idea and try to sell it to his guests. They disagree more often than not, and Tweety just ends by restating his brilliant gem as if it's gospel. (For example, near the end of the election he went on for days about how people wanted to vote for the person who helped men feel like providers). He's stuck somewhere in the late 1950's. I don't envy Pennsylvanians if he chooses to run.

[ObjectiveRealist]

I can identify with the suspicion of pure ambition.

[
As the Politico notes, he wants to "fulfill his boyhood dream of becoming a senator" - that is, he doesn't want to fulfill his boyhood dream of enacting universal health care or ending the war or some other cause, his dream is to simply BE a U.S. Senator - and, indeed, it doesn't even matter from where.
]

Especially juxtaposed with W's obvious shirking of all responsibilities, and Matthew's apparent, but not factual, support of W's Iraq policy. In 2003, when Matthews was cheering for the President's efforts to, it seemed, defend the United States, the facts about the total absence of a reasonable case for biological weapons in Iraq and a nuclear weapons program were not common public knowledge. I'm sure some people knew it, and it was on some websites, but I also know that in 2003 it wasn't clear to me.

Enthusiasm is a double-edged sword, but it definitely has its pluses and on the balance I like Matthews. Putting Chris' ambitions in the same class as George Walker Bush's is simply disingenuous. Chris Matthews has shown he does his homework and does a good job, no matter how much he also enjoys the importance of his work. There's nothing wrong with that at all, and when one takes pride in doing their work well, seeking important work IS good for the stakeholders in that work. Pride is not a crime.

[Andante200]

Bravo, David! As i've said elsewhere, Pennsylvania (and any other state, for that matter) needs a real Democrat. Matthews' commentary is clear as mud, and he talks too fast to mean anything coherent. Just a case of all ambition and no purpose (except ambition).

[darthdarcy]

David; just remember nobody ever went broke, underestimating the intelligence of the "average" American...!

Especially Pennsylvania..and Philadelphia...

[engineer68]

Thank You! Now this also applies to my State of New York with people saying "Wow! Caroline Kennedy could be our new Senator".

[nananance]

And which brilliant state do you live in? What a wise-ass crack with nothing to back it up.

[Aramingo]

From Matthew's Wikipedia bio: Matthews was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is a Roman Catholic of Irish descent. He grew up in Oreland, a Pennsylvania suburb of Philadelphia that is part of Springfield Township, Montgomery County and attended La Salle College High School there.

So, it's more of a homecoming than a carpetbagging. I live in southeastern PA, and the two main Philly papers always refer to Matthews as a homeboy.

I seriously doubt that I would vote for him for anything, but still - tell the entire story.

[Donegal]

You're correct. I live in Oreland and Chris' brother Jim is a county commissioner here. But Arlen Spector is and has always been a popular Senator (he doesn't live that far away from Chris's hometown either) so if Matthews decides to run, he'll have his work cut out for him.

[Solange]

David, why are you so upset about this. Were you upset when Hillary Clinton ran for senator from NY. If Chris Matthews--who grew up in Pennsylvania and has remained connected with the people, including his family, in the state--wants to make a run for the US Senate--that is his right. Why are you so outraged? All politicians are peprsonally ambitious and driven, and certainly not all of them run for office for altruistic reasons--there are plenty of other ways to serve "the people"--so your righteousness about noble politicians doesn't ring true. I'm neutral on Matthews, but I will say this--he does have convictions--that was clear during the election season. This story was not worthy of your talents, David. With all due respect, Chris Matthews shouldn't bother you so much--there are plenty of other things going on in this country and the world that are far more worthy of your outrage.

[08politicaljunkie]

I guess you're entitled to your opinion, but I, a resident of Pennsylvania, would aid Chris Matthews in his run for US Senate. Not that Arlen is a bad guy -- since most of his time in the Senate, I didn't know whether he was Rep or Dem.

[AshleyMarie]

Isn't this the same as Hillary Clinton parachuting in to NYC and hoping to become a senator on sheer celebrity (as first wife she had very little actual experience) alone?

[drjay79]

And yet so many people think it is a great idea to drop Caroline Kennedy into the senate because her father was president. Neither have the experience to be senator.

[nananance]

Caroline Kennedy has a brilliant mind, an exceptional work ethic and, yes, a family that many Americans admire

[ESerafina42]

All any primary opponent has to do is just to run as an ad, without comment, his embarrassing gushing over Dubya's "Mission Accomplished" moment. Then you could probably make another one with the nasty things he's said about Hillary, who, love her or hate her, is popular in PA. A tagline for the end of either of these: "And Chris Matthews says he's a DEMOCRAT?"

[Daniboy]

Barack would like a Sen Matthews-the tingle leg guy who would support(worship) him!