Could Tweety Be "The Man"? (updates)

(And by the way, I also posted over here today – also, don’t be surprised if posting is a bit flaky as we get closer to the holidays.)

It seems that left blogostan, as it were, is all abuzz over the possibility that Chris Matthews, currently the host of “Hardball” on MSNBC, may be mounting a Senate challenge in our beloved commonwealth against Snarlin’ Arlen Specter (with Phil Singer of HuffPo noting here that Matthews has put together an exploratory committee; Singer also points out that Matthews really shouldn’t be on the air if he’s running for the Senate, which is a good point – if this becomes official, then Matthews would have to relinquish his job with the network anyway; also, I’ve seen some “buzz” over at Open Left to the effect that Matthews is trying to recruit Chris Bowers to help in some type of capacity).

I have to admit that I’m torn a bit here (again, assuming this is all legitimate, and I have a feeling that it is, if for no other reason than because of Matthews’ consummate egomania; what role, if any, Bowers would play is all conjecture, and I don’t have any “inside dope” on that).

On the one hand, if I were to think of anyone out there who embodies progressive values and could run for high office in this state, Matthews is definitely not the first person who would come to mind; as you can read from this post in April, he embodies everything that is wrong with the Beltway media culture. I think we as progressives would all have to become afflicted with a case of selective amnesia to think he would be an advocate for any cause that we hold dear.

On the other hand, Matthews is a great candidate because (thinking worst case), if he is unable to pull this off, then we wouldn’t have wasted more prime political talent in this state upon a quest that would be ultimately fruitless (as I noted here not too long ago, Specter can be beaten like any pol, but the strategy and the execution will have to be flawless, and I’m sorry, but I don’t see Matthews as someone who can pull this off – love to see him prove me wrong, though).

So we’ll see; hopefully Matthews thinks he has a shot and isn’t just “tilting at a windmill” because he got another “thrill going up (his) leg,” as he did here.

Update 1 12/02/08: Toomey '10...YEAH BABY!!

Update 2 12/02/08: I forgot about Joe Scar here, who went the "anti-Matthews" route (he was in politics first).

Update 3 12/04/08: Usually I bow and grovel in homage to the almighty kos, but I think he's flat, dead wrong here (and whoever conducted that Rasmussen poll must have done a tab of acid).

I sincerely hope Patrick Murphy doesn't even consider running against Specter unless Pat Toomey declares; I know kos is mad because Patrick is a "Blue Dog" ("Bush Dog," but not on the war), but Murphy has positioned himself to compete in the "T" of PA better than any other Dem (which, with all due respect, I STILL think isn't good enough for now).

For what it’s worth, I envision any of these scenarios (which automatically means they’ll never happen):

Specter is knocked off by Toomey in the primary, and Matthews knocks off Toomey.

Specter knocks off Toomey, but Mathews fools everybody, emerges as a seasoned, skilled campaigner, and somehow beats Specter (and then I woke up).

Specter knocks off Toomey and Matthews, with Patrick Murphy sitting it out; meanwhile, Bob Casey decides to run for PA governor in 2010, opening up his Senate seat, which Patrick Murphy runs for and wins in a special election (no word on who would get PA-08; maybe Joe Conti runs against a Dem – paging Mike Diamond – and Diamond gets it? And Specter’s seat finally opens up when he dies in office sometime in the year 2020).

(And by the way, I am not an expert in PA election law; I’m merely assuming all of this could happen.)

Remember, you heard all of this here first (and by the way, though I like her personally, Allyson Schwartz would be a disaster of a choice).