So Josh Drobnyk, writing in Wednesday morning's LA Times under the banner headline, "Democrats may play hardball in Pennsylvania/MSNBC's Chris Matthews could be in the mix of candidates hoping to win Republican Sen. Arlen Specter's seat in 2010," reports that, "The Philadelphia native has been toying with a run for months, and this week he sat down with state Democrats to discuss the prospect of taking on the five-term GOP senator."
I seen any news about those Matthews political meetings on MSNBC. Drobnyk further adds, "Matthews, 62, who didn't respond to a request for comment, has dismissed questions about a run in recent months as he lays the groundwork behind the scenes. His contract with MSNBC expires in June."
Now here are five sets of questions for MSNBC chief Phil Griffin:
1) When did you first become aware that Matthews was preparing for a Senate run? Did Matthews tell you himself, or did you just hear about it through the grapevine? Did you ask him to restrain himself? Or did you encourage him? What instructions did you give to your p.r. staff when asked to respond to press inquiries?
2) Did you check with your in-house legal counsel on the ethics of such an arrangement with Matthews, in which a high-profile employee uses his perch at a publicly traded company (General Electric, parent to MSNBC and its parent, NBC), to advance a personal partisan political agenda?
3) Did you notify your MSNBC editorial staff, suggesting that a report be done on the Pennsylvania Senate race, and cautioning said staff against any possible interference from Matthews or his agents?
4) Did you discuss the Matthews matter with your colleagues and/or superiors at NBC News, NBC, and GE? If so, what was their reaction?
5) Finally, do you think that you have been fair to the people of Pennsylvania? And not just to incumbent Republican Sen. Arlen Specter, but to other Democrats in the Keystone State, who don't have the advantage of a nightly cable news show to advance their career?
And of course, the same questions could be asked of Steve Capus, Jeff Zucker, and Jeff Immelt.
But in the meantime, if he had any honor, Matthews would resign from MSNBC. It's fine if he wants to be a candidate, but it's not fine if he has an unfair advantage in the media.
Isn't the Federal Election Commission supposed to keep track of unfair campaign contributions? This would seem to be a good case for the FEC to look into.
