MSNBC host Chris Matthews had some strong feelings to share about his political dreams of days gone by.
In an interview with Philadelphia Style magazine, the Pennsylvania-native described his career in politics before landing as the host of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”
During his late twenties, Matthews was unsuccessful in his attempt to represent Philadelphia’s 4th Congressional District in the House of Representatives, but went on to having a robust career working for other Democratic politicians. After entering broadcasting, the MSNBC host considered running for Arlen Specter’s senate seat in 2009, but eventually decided not to.
However, it seems like Matthews still dreams about the life that could have been if he were an elected official. During his interview with the Philadelphia magazine, Matthews said:
“I know this: If I had run and won and beaten [Senator Pat] Toomey, I would be one of the Democrats people talk about today. I’m not dreaming here. I would be one of the stars of the Democratic Party—there aren’t that many. My agenda now is to do what I’m doing, which…if you’ll notice, I like.”
According to Matthews’ colleague Chuck Todd, the MSNBC host did not run in 2009 because “he didn’t know what he was going to do if he got there,” despite it being his “childhood dream to be a senator.”
Matthews is not alone in articulating such feelings. Last year, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly made a similarly bold declaration during an interview with Newsweek.
“I have more power than anybody other than the president, in the sense that I can get things changed, quickly,” O’Reilly said. “I don’t have to go through the legislative process; I don’t have to do any of that. I can just bring it to the people, and say, look, this has gotta be dealt with.”
