The Philly Inquirer’s Jonathan Storm has 10 questions for Philly native Chris Matthews of the eve of the PA primary. We chose #4, #6, #8 and #9.
You’re 62, and your contract with MSNBC runs out a year from June. Why wouldn’t you just hang up the bullhorn, and go fishing?
Matthews: Ha. Ha. Ha. The money is enormous. I’d probably talk politics if I wasn’t on the air. Mike Wallace is, what, 90? These people just keep doing this stuff. It’s not like it’s a real heavy-lifting job.
Why do you talk so loud and seem not to let people finish their sentences?
Matthews: Because I do let them finish their sentences, maybe not their sentences, but finish their thoughts. The honest answer is I have to work on that. I never figured out how Ted Koppel was able to keep the conversation going without interrupting.
Who watches the cable news talk shows, and why?
Matthews: I have the most amazing audience. I meet them. They’re very intimate. ‘Chris,’ they say. It sometimes amazes me. They chat as if I was their cousin. In Washington, guys who drive limos, doormen, West Africans, people from the Middle East, Latinos. They watch shows like Hardball to learn language, culture, politics.
Is Fox News really fair and balanced, and why does it beat you in the ratings?
Roger has brilliantly put together a counterprogram to everything else that was on television when it started. Everything was establishment liberal, and Fox is a challenge to that. It balances off what they say is mainstream journalism. I don’t know if was fair and balanced if it were the only news you got. Ha. Ha…Fox offers itself up as an alternative to prime-time television themes.