Political Consultant: MSNBC’s Matthews Would Beat Arlen Specter in Senate Run
Sunday’s hilarious, blistering New York Times Magazine profile of Philly homeboy Chris Matthews — a portrait that makes Darrell Hammond’s cartoonish SNL impression of Matthews look like something from Masterpiece Theatre — concludes with the possibility of the MSNBC talking head challenging Arlen Specter for a U.S. Senate seat in 2010:
This has been rumored before, but Matthews has been particularly obsessed with Pennsylvania of late, devoting hours on and off the air to the state’s upcoming Democratic primary, staying in close contact with the state’s party apparatus.
So what kind of candidate would Matthews make?
“I think he would retire Arlen Specter,” says longtime Democratic campaign consultant Neil Oxman, who’s been encouraging Matthews to run since 2004. Oxman, who engineered Ed Rendell’s two successful runs for governor of Pennsylvania (he’s also worked with New Mexico guv Bill Richardson, among others), lays out several reasons the Hardball host could stop Specter from gaining a seventh term, including strong name recognition across the state and the ability to raise to gobs of money.
Toss in Matthews’ Irish Catholic heritage, which would help him win the support of the state’s blue-collar Democrats, and strong liberal positions, which would give him appeal in the southeastern part of the state, and you have a stronger opponent than Specter has ever faced, concludes Oxman. “I think he would become a cult figure the way Ed Rendell did,” he says.
Though Matthews, who grew up in Northeast Philly and lost a run for Congress there in 1974, is said to have been chatting up politicos around the state about a possible run, Oxman says he has no idea how serious he is about turning away from TV and becoming a candidate. But he does know the title “Senator” is something Matthews finds appealing. “When you ask him if he wants to be a United States senator, he says ‘Absolutely,’” says Oxman. “It’s his dream job.”
The Aria of Chris Matthews [NYT]
Earlier: “I’m like the buffalo hunter. I go for the tongue of the buffalo and leave the carcass.” [Exit Interview, Philadelphia Magazine]
Photo: Courtesy of NBC
