Outspoken talk-show host Morton Downey Jr. has...

Outspoken talk-show host Morton Downey Jr. has made a bid to buy Del Webb’s Claridge Casino Hotel in Atlantic City and wants to turn the hotel into “the casino capital of the blue-collar crowd,” a published report said. Glen Lillie, a spokesman for the Claridge, said he could not confirm or deny Downey’s interest in the hotel because the company’s investment counselor had asked Claridge executives not to discuss any negotiations or bids. But nothing is stopping Downey from talking. “I love Atlantic City and I’d like to see blue-collar America have its own castle,” the controversial, nationally syndicated television host told the Press newspaper of Atlantic City. The financially ailing Claridge, the tiniest of the seaside resort’s 12 gaming halls, has been for sale since March, when Phoenix-based Del Webb Corp. announced that it was divesting its leisure-related holdings.