Chris Matthews is thinking about running against Arlen Specter for the US Senate. According to Politico, he even bought a house in Philly to establish residency. He's being advised to leave MSNBC and jump into the race:

As speculation surrounding his potential candidacy heats up, Matthews has also been asking advisers whether to step down from his MSNBC post well before his contract expires in June. At one recent meeting, he was advised that if he truly intends to run, he should resign from the network as soon as possible.

"We talked about the value of doing this now and six months from now. I advocated that he do this as soon as possible," the operative said. "It's the MSNBC stuff that's going to jam him up. I said, 'if you want to be a U.S. senator, step up and get into the race.'"

Folks at MSNBC hope he does just that:

If Matthews is serious about running, some within the network hope he commits to the Pennsylvania Senate race sooner rather than later. Otherwise, his nightly presence on "Hardball" provides easy fodder to critics fueling the narrative that MSNBC is in the tank for the Democratic party. After NBC News was stung by criticism during the presidential campaign--charged with bias resulting from the antics of more outspoken personalities on MSNBC--staffers worry the situation will be repeated over the next six months.

Fueling the narrative that MSNBC is in the tank for the Democrats? Are they serious? Everyone already knows MSNBC is in the tank for the Democrats. Matthews has made so many endorsements for Obama during the campaign, I'm sure some wondered if he was on the payroll. Matthews said Obama sent a "chill" up his leg, that Obama's candidacy offers Americans "deliverance", and most recently, he said his job was to help Obama have a successful presidency.

The clip ended with Matthews' statement that this country needs a successful presidency. And he said it with a straight face after eight years of insulting, maligning, besmerching, and questioning President Bush's motives on virtually everything the man did. And MSNBC actually has the nerve to say it's concerned that Matthews is "fueling the narrative" that the network in is the tank for the Democrats. There is no "narrative," people. He is as in the tank as in the tank can be.

And be sure to read Steve Schippert's piece from a month or so ago when speculation of a Matthews run first began taking shape.