Matthews for Senate?

Chris Matthews, the excitable MSNBC host, isn't talking publicly about the possibility.

But Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said today that he believes Matthews would be a serious contender for US Senate, particularly in the current Democratic tide. Republican incumbent Arlen Specter's seat is on the ballot next November.

“Chris would be a formidable candidate,” Rendell said on Fox News Channel today of Matthews. “He told me he’s seriously considering it, and he asked me for my advice and I told him that Arlen Specter is a tough guy to beat in the general election,”

Matthews, a former aide to former House Speaker Tip O'Neill of Massachusetts, reveled in the run-up to the crucial Democratic primary in Pennsylvania in April, doing live broadcasts of "Hardball" on college campuses and extolling the common sense of Keystone State residents.

He also became rather well known for being effusive about President-elect Barack Obama, eventually admitting after the election that he was partial to the Democrat all along.