I'm not even one of the "Matthews haters" (of which apparently there are many, at least on Salon, and I grant them some valid reasons; I'm just not entirely of that mindset). Still, I think this is a bad idea. He'd sure be swell at a filibuster, though! Talking, talking, talking...

And will he bring in Rudy Guliani to give his opponents that "Daddy's home!" look?

Will someone tell me why Chris Matthews thinks he's a Democrat? Is it because he voted for Jimmy Carter in 1976 or something? He certainly doesn't have a Democratic party view of things.

...is if that means he'll be off the air and have less influence. He constantly unprepared and uninformed, so he'd probably fit in with most of the other senators.

--Ron

So his show has been nothing but a launch pad. Please.

More male sexists in Democratic politics.

So the people of Pennsylvania will get to choose between a know nothing blowhard like Matthews or a do nothing shell like Specter. Aren't we lucky.

I think it is a great idea. Chris stays up to date and ahead of any other politician when it comes to news and how the pulse of America is veiwing what is going on. He is intelligent and funny. He would be a great addition to the Senate. YOU GO CHRIS!!

I don't have an opinion about Matthews as a senator, but may I just say that the man who substituted for him the other night on Hardball (I never caught his name)was a delight! I only wish he would permanently replace Matthews -- it was the first time ever that I actually enjoyed watching the show. Matthews' high-pitched mania was replaced by a low-key reasonableness, the interrupting was gone, guests were able to form not just full sentences, but full paragraphs. It was wonderful! MSNBC, if you're reading these posts, please give this man Matthews' show.

...if he could pull his head out of Tom Delay's backside.

Matthews is a classic empty shirt, he loooooves some of slimiest right wing wackjobs and seems to be some kind of neoconservative who is trying to now change his colors.

The Democrats can do much better than that windbag.

We watch his show, but regard him as a hack. He's not in the first, maybe not even 3rd, rank of American journalists.

He might, however, make a decent senator when one considers that it does not take a great intellect to make an effective senator and he does know how Washington works.

I'd want him to run as a Dem.

I mean I support the pres but CM has a job. I though Joe S was gonna drop over dead after some of the stuff he said on morning Joe a few weeks back...

You might be talking about Mike Barnicle from the Boston Globe. Overall, I like him, too...though to be fair, he was pegged as being a bit misogynistic like Matthews and Schuster were.

I think Matthews is an old fashioned Dem (I mean that in a good way) and would probably make a decent team player.

Thanks, AnnieW. I looked up Google images, and it is Mike Barnicle. I have to admit to knowing nothing about him personally, I just liked his (rarely seen) journalistic style.

Wow, what a great idea ! The political party that has Chris "Motormouth" Matthews occupying a seat in the legislature will possess the all time tongue flapping champion, he of the astronomically voluminous vocal proportions.

I know that the current rule in the Senate allows for the mere hint of a filibuster to kill a bill cold-dead immediately without an actual week-long "discussion". And that the Republicans in that body have employed the rule to stall any and every bill they don't like, while loudly complaining that the bare majority of Dems are responsible for the do nothing Senate.

But the current filibuster rule would definitely not hinder Matthews in the slightest. Can you imagine Matthews allowing an opportunity to speak forth, without pause for an entire week, to escape his grasp and thereby failing to fulfill his life's ambition ?

Come to think of it, Matthews in the Senate doesn't sounds like such a bad idea after all. After a couple of his filibuster performances, maybe the Senate would consider abolishing the filibuster altogether - - and we may then chalk one up for the motormouth.

CM Out-bloviates all the Congressional bloviators combined + way more full of sh*t (I realize the epic reach of that claim).

Also, to the Barnicle mentioners: He's also a plagiarist (proven) and renderer of printed bloviation, consistently. Clueless A-hole just like Matthews.

Great.

The man who thinks that everyone in America "wants to have a beer with" George W. Bush wants to represent Pennsylvania in the Senate.

The Republicans would roll him on a daily basis.

Actually, I am pretty sure that this scumbag will loose the election. In 21st century, the last thing our country can afford is a misogynist senator.

Joan Walsh is on Hardball frequently but Salon is always bagging him in one way or another.

I suspect that he and Joan Walsh have some kind of deal that allows them to mutally gain notoriety and generate buzz about each other. I bet they sit around laughing about it over drinks after taping Hardball. Then Joan Walsh writes drunken indigant responses in the comments section of whatever piece of flamebait she has posted but I digress.

Matthews is not my favorite- I think his commentary is shallow and almost entirely about his emotional responses to the world - a lot like Joan Walsh and the writers she has employed- but useful for that reason. I watch Matthews and occasionally read Walsh so I can get a sense of what people who rely strictly on their guts reactions are feeling and saying.

Anyway, he is a dem, and he launched his journalistic carrer from politics not the other way around.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_matthews

So far as his bid for Specter's seat - I think he would do ok by my home state.