Cocky Chris Matthews Dreams of Senate Fame: I'd Have Been a Democratic 'Star'

In an article for the November Philadelphia Style magazine, a cocky Chris Matthews wistfully recounted a considered 2010 run for Senate, bragging at how incredible he would have been: "I'm not dreaming here. I would be one of the stars of the Democratic Party—there aren’t that many."

The liberal MSNBC anchor flirted with, but ultimately decided against, running in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Perhaps wondering what might have been, he lamented, "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." The Hardball host also took some disgruntled shots at Barack Obama.

Matthews lamented, "Obama’s strengths were apparent; his weaknesses weren’t. We saw someone who was very brilliant, but what we didn’t see was someone who didn’t have the necessary skills as a backroom deal maker."

While Matthews flipped out over Obama's poor debate performance at the first presidential debate, he usually keeps criticism of the President to himself. In 2008, the journalist famously told America that Obama gave him a "thrill" up "my leg."

As for his future, Matthews played down talk of a future political run, asserting, "My agenda now is to do what I’m doing, which… if you’ll notice, I like."