Senator Chris Matthews?



(image via noquarterusa)

Chris Matthews can do gritty. Not Ed Rendell gritty, to be sure, but gritty enough to go over well in Allegheny County. Governor Rendell is so gritty he has alfalfa sprouts growing from between his fingernails (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

And Chris loves listening to people. Have you ever seen him after a book signing? It's like a impromptu Senatorial Listening Tour. Chris Matthews loves to hear "what-the-man-in-the-street-is-thinking." That's not just good form for a television host, it is a perfect quality in a politician. Finally, Chris is a conservativ-ish Roman Catholic Democrat who trained under the watchful eye of Boston's Tip O'Neill. Chris would go over well with Independents and Reagan -- or, rather, Hillary -- Democrats.

Chris Matthews has always wanted to become a US Senator. As an institution, they have no speaking limits (which, we cannot fail to note, would be Institutional Heaven to the chatty Matthews). And Chris is not having the best of times at present at MSNBC, whose programming is veering ever farther to the left, making him an uncomfortable fit with the ascendant Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann.

The talk is starting up again about a Matthews-Spector race. Spector, who held on last time by a whisker in his own party primary, in gritty Pennsylvania. From The Caucus via TVNewser:

"It’s no secret that Chris Matthews, the high-voltage host of 'Hardball' on MSNBC, has been considering a run in 2010 as a Democrat for the Senate seat held by Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania.

"The subject came up at a dinner Mr. Matthews attended last week that was held by Senator Barack Obama’s biggest New York fund-raiser and attended by a phalanx of generous contributors to Democratic candidates.

"'People have asked me about it,' Mr. Matthews said about the Pennsylvania race in a telephone interview. 'I’ve never told anyone that I’m running.'

"... The group at the dinner, which was held Oct. 14 at the Four Seasons, included: Marc Lasry, a co-founder of the Avenue Capital Group; Leo Corbett, a top executive at EMI Music Publishing; Jim Torrey, a co-founder of the hedge fund Torrey Associates; Suhail Rizvi of Rizvi-Traverse Management; Ned Lamont, who in 2006 ran for the Senate against Joseph I. Lieberman in Connecticut; Orin Kramer, chairman of the New Jersey State Investment Council; Jeff Kindler, the chief executive of Pfizer; and Frank Brosens, the founder of Taconic Capital Advisors. (Mr. Brosens, coincidentally, has contributed to Mr. Specter’s campaigns.)

"Mr. Matthews said he remained committed to his program, which he noted was having a ratings boomlet this election year. His contract runs until June."