Chris Matthews: News Organizations Are ‘Going to Spend Every Nickel They Have’ Investigating Rick Perry

MSNBC's Chris Matthews might have revealed his cards, and, innermost fear Monday when he asked the Washington Post's Eugene Robinson if the media would pull out all the stops in an effort to dig up political fodder on Rick Perry should he become the Republican nominee.

The Hardball host asked: "Do you think the nation's newspapers and the big news organizations are now going to spend every nickel they have sending young people out there to go investigate this guy?"

Could Matthews be just a trifle concerned that Perry might have a real chance at beating President Obama in 2012? So far, he hasn't seemed that concerned about any of the other GOP contenders.

Robinson, who said he thinks Perry is a "formidable politician" who's  "off like gangbusters," has not become a top tier candidate. "And I think at the White House they are having to do recalibration today, and to think about, gee, maybe we will run against Perry instead of running against Romney," Robinson said.

That's when Matthews asked the editor whether the media would spend every nickle they can investigating Perry, to which Robinson replied "absolutely."

Matthews then stated that Perry had "better be clean as a whistle," because the heat is on.

"If you don’t like the heat, stay out of the kitchen, Governor," warned Matthews.

However, it might be safe to assume that Perry, who officially threw his hat in the ring Saturday, is well aware of the amount of scrutiny he will be letting himself in for. We can only hope the same amount of vetting, this time around, might hold true for the incumbent.

(H/T: NewsBusters)