Matthews could win if Specter doesn't run
With speculation having started months ago and once more perpetuated by a report from FiveThirtyEight that MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews is staffing up for a Senate run in 2010, all eyes turn to Pennsylvania with 23 months to go until the midterm elections.
While Matthews denied the reports, polling has already been released putting Matthews at just a 12-point deficit as Specter leads Matthews 45-33. A pretty good starting point considering that 60% of responders said that they did not know enough about Matthews.
The question, however, is not whether Matthews runs but rather if Specter does. It is unlikely that anyone could defeat the popular five-term Senator but it remains uncertain if Specter, 78, would run for re-election as he continues to receive treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Matthews, 62, is a political staffer turned politician turned news anchor. He began his career working for Senators Frank Moss (D-UT) and Ed Muskie (D-ME). In 1974, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress, losing in the Democratic primary with just 23% of the vote. Following his run, Matthews worked as a speech writer for President Jimmy Carter and then as the top aide to House Speaker Tip O'Neill (D-MA).
Following his stint as a staffer, Matthews became a print journalist. He spent fifteen years in print media, thirteen of which consisted of being the Washington D.C. Bureau Chief for the San Francisco Examiner.
In 1997, Matthews was given a talk show by NBC. Hardball with Chris Matthews, which first aired on CNBC, continues to be the second most watched show on the network today.
Chris Matthews has also written several books covering politics, campaigning and even self-help.
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Comments
I think Chris Matthews would be a good senator for PA.
Frank
www.welcometoinsurance.com
I think Chris Matthews is a disgusting immature fool! A disgrace to the profession!
Dear Senator Specter:
Lou Dobbs called our attention to an immigration bill which proposes an increase in H1B visas from a cap of 65,000 to 115,000 sponsored by you. If the limit is reached in a year, the Bill seeks an additional 20% raise in subsequent years. The number of Green Cards would more than double to 290,000 from the current limit of 140,000. The new quota will not include family members of the Green Card holder.
Sanjay Puri heads the Washington based pro-India lobby group USINPAC and has worked with you on the bill. He says more H1Bs are good for the U.S. economy. “We’re talking about bringing in the best and brightest. Best and the brightest that get educated at someone else’s nickel. We get their brains at no cost. When you look at this country...when you look at Intel Corp. started by Andy Grove, he happens to be an immigrant,” says Puri.
A 19-year-old Harvard sophomore Kaavya Viswanathan’s book has been pulled from shelves by its publisher because she is accused of plagiarism. Is she among the best and brightest from India? If so why does she borrow from another author’s books. These people come to America and ask not, “what can I do for America, but what can America do for me”.
USINPAC is trying to emulate AIPAC (“The Israel Lobby” Mearsheimer and Walt). AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) sizes up the members of congress with the professional eye of a quarterback scanning the defensive secondary and immediately selects the appropriate game plan that makes the final score a forgone conclusion before the 1st quarter had ended. In the fourth quarter in the lopsided mismatch, AIPAC kicks a field goal -- the American Israel Education Foundation invests several thousand dollars to finance trips to Israel for members of Congress where they are wined, dined and propagandized and the return on that investment is the extortion of billions of American tax dollars for Israel by many members of congress who play the sport with AIPAC.
A rabbi asserted on a cable show sometime ago, “America has been kinder to Jews than any country”. That kindness has been exploited by you, a first-generation American, and we are mad as hell and we are not going to take anymore. We have sacrificed too much for this country to allow insidious ingrates like you to import people from India to take jobs for which our best and brightest are entitled.
If you wish to represent people from India, please move to India! Bon voyage!
Chagrined,
Don't overestimate Specter's popularity in Pennsylvania. He narrowly won his last primary against Congressman Pat Toomey, a contest that simply shouldn't have been for the long-serving senator. His main campaign talking point was "don't throw away my seniority."
I think Chris Matthews would find tough sledding against the Governor of Philadelphia, Slick Eddie Rendell. He's term-limiting out as governor so he has to be eyeballing Specter's seat. After all, corrupt as he is, if he's been able to fool the Pennsylvania voters twice, he's likely to be able to fool them again.
How would Matthews meet residency requirements in PA? Oh, like Hillary met them in New York.
I see Specter's seat a knock-down fight between Specter and Toomey.
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