Over on MSNBC, Morning Joe played a clip of their colleague's appearance, then chewed it over.
STEPHEN COLBERT: There's a lot of talk that you might be running for Arlen Specter's seat.Matthews first played it coy.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓
Wild cheering ensues.CHRIS MATTHEWS: In Pennsylvania?
COLBERT: In Pennsylvania. Any truth to that?
MATTHEWS: For United States Senate? In the year 2010?
COLBERT: That's the last I've heard on it. You want to give me a scoop? You want to respond to that in the form of an announcement into that camera right over there?
MATTHEWS: A six-year term?
COLBERT: A six-year term from 2010.
MATTHEWS: Representing all the people of Pennsylvania?
COLBERT: The great state of Pennsylvania. You're a favorite son of Pennsylvania. I know what that's like. Make an announcement, Chris: right in that camera! [Gesturing to the audience] Will you vote for him if he says it now? Chris? Let's play Hardball!
Matthews eventually dropped the shrinking-violet shtick.
MATTHEWS: Some people growing up, some kids want to be a fireman. I want to be a senator.Matthews, sitting somber-faced, did nothing to deny it.
COLBERT: That's an announcement.
Back at the Morning Joe studio, the panel dug the idea.
WILLIE GEIST: Real-l-l-l-y?As we've noted before, it really does look like Matthews is seriously exploring the possibility of a run. Which raises an interesting issue. Mika might want him to simultaneously seek a Senate seat while serving as Hardball host, but how much longer can he continue to do both? At what point does Matthews' journalistic status become hopelessly jumbled by his political ambitions?
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yah, he always has. He's always, I think, wanted to do that. So, I think he'd be a great politician.
GEIST: No question about it.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Oh my gosh; I would love to see that. He has to do Hardball too, though. I would not let him leave the show.
SCARBOROUGH: Now there's a guy who understands the blue-collar voters.
BRZEZINSKI: Yes he does.
SCARBOROUGH: He wouldn't pick up a bowling ball unless he knew he could break 200.
GEIST: Chris Matthews would be great on the stump, too, wouldn't he?
SCARBOROUGH: He would!
BRZEZINSKI: Oh my Lord!
SCARBOROUGH: It's exciting. We need to get him on and interview him.
BRZEZINSKI: Let's have him on tomorrow.
SCARBOROUGH: OK, we'll do that.
I've already noted how Matthews buttered up PA Gov. Ed Rendell during a recent Hardball appearance. It later emerged that Matthews had previously approached Rendell looking for help in recruiting a campaign team. On last night's Hardball, Matthews assembled a panel of Pennnsylvania Dem county chairmen to kibitz the primary. Justifiable, but how convenient for Chris, who ended the segment with an anything-but-Hardball send-off, telling the pols what "a great honor" it had been to have them on the show.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
If they re-run the RINO
April 15, 2008 - 07:11 ET by sarcasmoI'll bet Chris wins, too. And I found Colbert's show very funny with a live audience, BTW.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
I wouldn't doubt it...after
April 15, 2008 - 07:25 ET by motherbeltI wouldn't doubt it...after all this where politics is going....
I can see it now...
April 15, 2008 - 07:15 ET by Karma...99 senators on C-Span wearing face shields and haz-mat suits.
So do alot of people....
April 15, 2008 - 07:28 ET by supercon"Some people growing up, some kids want to be a fireman. I want to be a senator."
Barack and Hillary hope one day to be Senators too instead of political celebrities who perpetually campaign.
Victory in Iraq.
Liberals suck
He is certainly qualified
April 15, 2008 - 07:30 ET by Mark_for_SenateCondescendlingly arrogant, out-of-touch with reality, clueless moron. Yep. That sums up 80% of the 110th congress. What a National embarrassment.
To know and not do, is to not yet know
And I thought that no one could make Arlen Specter look good...
April 15, 2008 - 07:41 ET by ThalpyAnd I thought that no one could make Arlen Specter look good. I was mistaken.
Three Reasons Why It Is A Good Career Move, Chris
April 15, 2008 - 08:04 ET by Beresford1. CSPAN has better ratings than MSNBC.
2. You can interrupt witnesses at hearings just likeyou interrupt guests on your show
-- but now you can really hold them in contempt if they annoy you -- not just figuratively.
3. Three words: smoking hot interns
Senator Matthews
April 15, 2008 - 08:10 ET by iveseenitallSenator Matthews---it figures. Join the crowd of pandering, self-centered, ignorant, adolescent,spineless, puny, feckless, illogical, corrupt anti-American socialists who never work, but get great benefits. Why its the same job you have now,Chris. Great "career" move.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
Chris Matthews For U. S. Senator
April 15, 2008 - 08:20 ET by NKurucThe best thing that could happen to this idiot is to become one of the do-nothings (Shumer, Levin, Boxer, Rockefeller, et. al.) that he's sucked up to all of these years, and to see how frustrating it must be to work with these fools and their "party line". He to, could pontificate in front of a chamber of 3-5 senators on a daily basis. I say to Chris.....Just Do It!
It's easy to see how this guy was a speech writer for Jimmy Carter.
This just gets better as time goes on.
makes about as much sense as Al Franken
April 15, 2008 - 08:35 ET by theduck6being the Minn. Senator. Go to Google Images and type in "Frankenbunny"...then again look up "feather boa" and "Jesse the Body Ventura". Can you say "Cult of Personality"? I knew that you could.
It's pretty sweet deal Jon Stewart, Colbert, Maher et al have. They can be as inaccurate and derogatory as the wish and then hide behind " Hey man, it's just cooooomedy man! Get a sense of humor." When all along they know there are sheep out there who don't bother to seperate one from the other.
Repeat a lie often enough, it sounds like the truth.
GMTA, duck, but I beat you
April 15, 2008 - 08:57 ET by motherbeltGMTA, duck, but I beat you to it....look above....LOL
Matthews against Specter?
April 15, 2008 - 09:02 ET by Missouri ConservativeHow far left will Matthews have to swing to differentiate himself from Specter? Specter is already among the most liberal Republicans around.
"women and minorities hardest hit"
Grow Up First
April 15, 2008 - 09:34 ET by CellaChris Matthews said he always wanted to be a senator when he grew up. Well, he will have to grow up first.
Stephen Colbert is a master jokester.
Matthews as a senator would be a master joke.
Who doesn't want to be a senator?
April 15, 2008 - 09:53 ET by ChrisMillsLet me get this straight...Get elected and you have 6 years in a well-paying job that requires speaking the word "yeah" or "nay" every now and then. No leadership, skills, intelligence, integrity, honesty, or attendance is required or expected.
Matthews would make a lateral move from pontificating, brainless blowhard on MSNBC to pontificating, brainless blowhard in the Senate. I hope PA is smarter than that...
Mathews wants to be a Senator?
April 15, 2008 - 11:07 ET by jefflebowskiHe should try not being an idiot first. That also goes for Specter! Isn't Matthews the guy who peed his pants over Osama? Figures!
This sends a thrill up my
April 15, 2008 - 10:51 ET by mattmThis sends a thrill up my leg... : 0
I agree that Arlen Spector
April 15, 2008 - 11:05 ET by marpelduplicate!
I agree that Arlen Spector
April 15, 2008 - 11:05 ET by marpelI agree that Arlen Spector is a liberal, and have never understood why he considers himself a Republican. It wouldn't matter if Chris Matthews wins. I just think the Senate chamber will merely get a little louder. And if Obama wins the Presidency, that thrill up Chris' leg may lead to other things. :o)
Matthews can always get a
April 15, 2008 - 12:12 ET by Chris NormanMatthews can always get a job as a White House intern and hope...
LOL, Chris... He would be
April 15, 2008 - 15:44 ET by marpelLOL, Chris... He would be Barack's Monica ANY DAY!! He'd could even furnish his own cigars.
MIKA-WARDROBE!
April 15, 2008 - 12:38 ET by SickofLibsIs it just me, or is anyone else totally bored by Mika's utter (lack of) of style? Its that same dumbass sweater top, just in different colors every single day. Zero accessories, zero style. Mao comes to mind.
She ain't no Robin Meade, not even in the same solar system.
I have to wonder just how
April 15, 2008 - 15:56 ET by bigtimerI have to wonder just how long Senator Matthews would last in Congress....with his mouth always going he would fit right in, but then again he seems to have NO patience with those who disagree with his view points....which you have to have for the job.
Would be interesting, sad for the country IMO, but fun for a political junkie to watch him in action on the floor ect....heck I'm already laughing just thinking about it.
He had better quit his show quite awhile before he knows he is going to announce...but I bet he won't and won't be made to either...after-all he has a 'D' behind his name.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
Just what the Senate
April 16, 2008 - 03:09 ET by fitzfongJust what the Senate needs! Another bloated Democrat white guy from the Northeast who can't control his inflated ego, his vocal range, his liquor consumption or his sexual appetite.
Matthews may not even need
April 16, 2008 - 07:06 ET by motherbeltMatthews may not even need to challenge Specter. Specter announced yesterday that his cancer has returned. I suppose there is a chance he will retire, although he didn't say so.