MSNBC's Chris Matthews has a credibility gap about the size of the Susquehanna River.
He gives an interview to The Philadelphia Inquirer in which he is asked by Inky TV critic Jonathan Storm, "Are you really going to run for the Senate against Arlen Specter in 2010?" A reasonable enough question, considering that Matthews had let it be known for a long time that he was seriously interested in running, as Mark Finkelstein of Newsbusters carefully documented.
Instead, Matthews responded to Storm with a "Who Me?" tirade:
Where do you get that from? I am still honoring the commitment I made in 1987 to cover politics, not engage in it. Since boyhood, I've had a reverence for the Senate. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Advise and Consent, I loved those movies. But I've got a commitment to journalism that's serious, and I cover politics, and I committed myself in 1987 not to engage in it again.
You see, Matthews has made a lifetime commitment to the august principles and strict rules of The Church of Murrow, and nothing can tempt him away. NOT!
Matthews inky spin aside, what really happened is that Matthews' attempt to introduce himself to Democratic primary voters, in the pages of The New York Times Magazine, went over like a led zeppelin.
You could even say that Matthews was Stoned out of the race.
Cable Gamers know that if you are someone such as Matthews, you can make it, sort of, in cable news, thanks to a strong personality and a vivid, albeit grating--not to mention groping, as Matthews showed us on "Ellen" awhile back--persona. But the personality that gets a few hundred thousand viewers is not the same type of personality that gets you a majority of the vote in Pennsylvania.
But in the meantime, Matthews' viewers might think to themselves: "If Matthews would lie about his own politics, then how do we know that he is telling truth about anybody else's politics?"
