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I volunteered for the job, mentioning how as a "foreign correspondent" not only did I own a trench coat I could serve as a guide for the Drive-By media's voyage into the vast regions of the great, mysterious, beating "crimson heart" of the Red beast. Did their producers in New York, Washington and Los Angeles want a feminism piece? How about a story on all those female goat ropers at the Pennsylvania Farm Show? Did they need something exotic like examples of freedom and patriotism? No problem. That's only exotic in Matthews' Drive-By land. Those things are easy to find here. A short journey to that great cigar shop in Altoona would do the trick. If you wade through all the politically incorrect smoke in the shop with your camera, you will find a framed thank-you note from a local soldier stationed in Baghdad. Thanking the shop owner for a care package of stogies. A quick tour of freedom and patriotism at work all in one place. Did the producers want a look at bigotry? Easy. An exploration with Pennsylvania friends and neighbors as to why the Post described the denizens of Red America as "stupid and selfish and sanctimonious" as well as "downright religious fanatics and bigots" would surely prove fascinating to Drive-Bys. Perhaps the discussion could take place after church? Just maybe the bigots might turn out to be the ones in -- gasp! -- New York, Los Angeles, and Washington newsrooms!

HAVING CONFESSED to television's Stephen Colbert that the job he always wanted was to be a U.S. Senator, Matthews will soon enough have to make a decision as to whether this is a serious thought or a particularly public fantasy. Running for the Senate in any state requires time, money, political smarts and, as they say of candidates on Hardball, a fire in the belly. In Pennsylvania, being a Drive-By celebrity is meaningless to a Lancaster farmer trying to keep the family farm, a Pittsburgh steelworker watching the rise of energy prices not only cause him problems at the pump but at the plant, or a Harrisburg Mom worried that the school she is sending her kids to every day just isn't getting the job done. They could not possibly care less who said what at a Washington dinner party, or whether you enjoyed your visit to the Left Coast to schmooze with Leno or thought you were portrayed accurately on the cover of the New York Times Sunday magazine or by a comedian on Saturday Night Live.

Actually being a serious candidate for U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania involves taking the risk that you will lose. Of giving up something -- like a TV career -- knowing full well you may not be able to get it back. Of having, as they say, some skin in the game.

Does Chris Matthews really have the fire in the belly to run for the United States Senate from Pennsylvania? Or is this just an ego-booster? What would he do if he won? More importantly, what would he do if he lost? Would he stay in his home state and become a serious member of the Pennsylvania community as Rockefeller did in West Virginia -- or run back to Washington in search of re-entry onto the Drive-By party list?

Those are Hardball questions. Can Hardball's creator answer them?

Stay tuned.

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