Chris Matthews for Senate?
- Posted by: Nikhil Swaminathan
- on December 2, 2008 at 11:15 am
Political circles chattered all weekend about the possibility of Chris Matthews, the verbose host of MSNBC’s Hardball, challenging for a a seat in the U.S. Senate, representing his home state of Pennsylvania. Matthews has not declared his intention to run; he has, however, been in contact with top Democratic officials in the state. FiveThirtyEight.com, known more for its poll analysis than its punditry, said Friday that the cable news talking head was already “hiring staff,” based on reports from various Democratic operatives; Matthews quickly issued a denial.
Regardless of his ultimate decision, the media is having a field day with the idea of Matthews running. The gaggle on Fox & Friends laughed off the idea of the “alleged journalist” taking a shot at the seat currently held by Republican Arlen Specter, who has been in the Senate for more than 27 years. The Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages offers advice learned from its coverage of Al Franken’s Minnesota Senate run: “Celebrities and political pundits should not run for office.”
Phil Singer, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign earlier this year, called for Matthews’ resignation from the Hardball chair, if he intends to run. “One of the reasons millions of people rely on NBC as a news source is that it’s objective,” he wrote yesterday. “When one of the network’s most visible anchors is reported to be exploring a run for elected office, the network has an obligation to remove that person from its airwaves.” (Singer penned this just as The Daily Show was preparing a bit comparing the lack of objectivity on both MSNBC and FOX News.)
I personally think that Matthews (the candidate) comes with the pre-made attack ads of Hardball quips-gone-bad. In addition, despite his encyclopedic knowledge of politics an Ameican history, his catty demeanor may not play well with the electorate. Also, his insecurities are well known to anyone who read the New York Times magazine cover story from this spring.
A preliminary Quinnipiac poll has him down double-digits to Specter if the race happened today. What do you guys think of his chances?
(Photo from Flickr user chetlyzarko)
DISCUSSION: 2 Comments
I think anyone who gets the signatures to put their name on the ballot should be able to run regardless of what any of us think. With that being said I agree with the article that his being such a well known news man might hurt his chances of winning, but if I was from Pennsylvania I would love to see those debates.
I totally agree that anyone with the necessary signatures should be able to run. I just wonder if the PA Democratic Party will offer up its nomination to Matthews over a person who is more likely to win, based largely on his celebrity. It’s more or less what happened in Minnesota, I believe.