Posted by Wayne Garcia on Aug. 7, 2009, at 11:32 am
UPDATE at 1 pm: Martinez will hold a 3pm newser and then Crist is expected to name former Secretary of State Jim Smith as the an interim replacement before the summer recess ends. Leading candidates so far include former Secretary of State Jim Smith, former Tampa Mayor and FLA Gov. Bob Martinez, former US Sen. Connie Mack and former Speaker Allen Bense.
After months and months of flat-out denying he would quit his Senate post before his term was up (ever since he announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2010), Mel Martinez today made a liar out of himself and announced he will step down now.
That leaves the appointment in Gov. Charlie Crist’s hands. Now, before everyone in the Democratic Party grassroots starts freaking out (too late, judging by my Facebook and Twitter account traffic), yes, Charlie can appoint himself but, no, he won’t. It would be political suicide to do that.
In 2005, CL’s then- Sarasota reporter Allyson Gonzalez gave Martinez a freshman report card. He didn’t do too well:
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jul. 14, 2009, at 11:50 am
The Big Irony for Tuesday was watching the ranking Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, one Jefferson B. Sessions III of Alabama, grill US Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor over her statements about the judiciary and race. (He ascended to the top GOP slot on the committee when Arlen Specter switched parties.) Sessions cited what he termed a history of statements that show she would not apply the rule of law but instead use her life experiences and racial politics to make decisions on the high court.
Sessions himself was the target of a similar grilling in 1986, when he was a nominee to the federal district court, according to this account in the conservative Black Political Thought/Hinterland Gazette:
Twenty-three years ago he was engaged in the fight of his life. He was appointed a U.S. attorney in Alabama in 1981 and was nominated to become a U.S. District judge by President Ronald Reagan in 1986. J. Gerald Hebert, a career Justice Department lawyer, testified that Sessions had once called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the American Civil Liberties Union “un-American” and “Communist-inspired.” He said that they “forced civil rights down the throats of people.” He sealed his own fate by saying such groups could be construed as “un-American” when “they involve themselves in promoting un-American positions” in foreign policy. He is said to have made remarks that he thought the Ku Klux Klan wasn’t so bad until he found out that some of them smoked marijuana. He said these comments were made in jest. Right.
Sessions faced a heated round of questioning from Sen. Edward Kennedy, who called him “a throwback to a shameful era,” and our current Vice President, Joe Biden. How ironic. The committee held four hearings during one of which Sessions pleaded that “I am not a racist.” Hebert also testified that Sessions had called a white civil rights lawyer a “disgrace to his race” for litigating voting rights cases. His nomination failed in committee on a 10 to 8 vote, with Specter joining the nominee’s original patron, Sen. Howell Heflin (D-Ala.) in dooming the nomination. In 1994, Sessions won a state attorney general’s race, and then won election to the Senate in 1996 after Heflin retired.
Talk about somebody who (it would seem) would be prejudiced against a process or person, having gone through what must have been a painful rejection by Democrats decades ago.
The Washington Post has a full transcript of the Sessions-Sotomayor interrogation.
Posted by Chris Ingram on Jul. 9, 2009, at 10:00 am
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia
By Chris Ingram PoHo contributor
An Open Letter to Sen. Saxby Chambliss:
Dear Senator:
We have known each other for many years, and I have always admired your conservative values and principles.
However, due to your recent endorsement of Charlie Crist in the open Florida U.S. Senate seat, which is a contested race among more than one Republican (including Marco Rubio), I now doubt your sincerity for honest and fair elections, not to mention good leadership and responsible government.
While perhaps you may have been too preoccupied finding ways to get yourself re-elected and weren’t paying attention when Charlie Crist fully embraced President Obama’s reckless and fiscally unsound “stimulus” plan, Floridians were watching. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jun. 30, 2009, at 12:39 pm
His candidacy has been called “quixotic” as he flies into the face of a Republican challenger who likely will be Charlie Crist, but Kendrick Meek is strongly confident in his ability to force Floridians to examine the real record of their favorite, white-haired governor.
Meek is a rising star in the Democratic Party, finding himself with a seat on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee after just four terms in office. Helps to have a progressive voting record and agenda. It probably also doesn’t hurt when your mom served on the House Appropriations Committee with (now Speaker) Nancy Pelosi, as Congresswoman Carrie Meek did.
He’s largely untested (he won his seat in Congress unopposed after his mother retired so close to the qualifying deadline that nobody could mount a real challenge to her son) but he’s shown great energy and won a good deal of the hearts and minds in the Florida Democratic Party, so much so that a few major challengers have stepped aside rather than force an expensive primary race with him.
Meek was in Tampa today and stopped by the Creative Loafing offices. We talked about how to pay for health care reform, whether the stimulus is working, his role in forcing smaller class sizes in public schools and his famous 2000 showdown with then-Gov. Jeb Bush over the dismantling of affirmative action in the state, which resulted in a 26-hour sit-in at the lobby of the Governor’s Office after Bush refused to meet with him and another lawmaker.
Hooray for Florida’s very own Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen! On Wednesday, along with a bipartisan coalition of 100 House members led by Rep. Barney Frank, she introduced a revised (read: trans inclusive) version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). When passed, ENDA will extend existing Federal protections against employment discrimination to also protect gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
A version of ENDA that did not include protections for transgender people passed the house in 2007 but died in the Senate. In a recent interview with the Washington Blade, Frank was cautiously hopeful about the bill’s prospects in 2009: “Things have gotten better. The transgender community is lobbying hard. I just need to remind people that when we have trouble doing something in New York, Maryland and Massachusetts, it doesn’t get easier when you have South Carolina, Utah and Nebraska.”
State Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach made it official Monday, announcing he will run for attorney general and bringing the party one step closer to a three-way Democratic primary.
State Sen. Dave Aronberg of Greenacres announced for the office last week, and former state Sen. Rod Smith of Alachua is expected to announce soon.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jun. 3, 2009, at 7:52 am
While I appreciate the Gator sentiment in this House floor appearance by Jacksonville Congresswoman Corrine Brown, word that she is mulling a U.S. Senate bid makes me think that perhaps we might want a Senator who could actually read a simple congratulatory message.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jun. 1, 2009, at 1:28 pm
Sonia Sotomayor with her kids nephews at a ballgame. She certainly will have to be alert for foul balls in the confirmation process. (photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov)
This week’s podcast breaks down the Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court nomination with Tampa media lawyer David Snyder. We talk about her race-based rulings, her temperament, Rush Limbaugh and Tom Tancredo’s charges of reverse racism and whether judges really do/should make policy or not.
By Kelly Cornelius PoHo contributor and R-LAND activist
Ever hear the saying don’t look a gift horse in the mouth? That is probably because horse’s teeth can tell you how old they are.
Being a horse person I am a strong believer in vetting before buying a horse which is also called a pre-purchase exam. Along with checking for any glaring unsoundness or other health issues it is a good way to see if your potential steed will hold up for the job you will be asking him or her to do. As you might expect, if you want a horse for light trail riding the pre-purchase bar might not be as high as, say, an Olympic jumper or even something in between.
Most vets will admit that while almost no horse “passes the vet;” there are just shades of failing. It still makes good sense to have a thorough exam performed. The only time it doesn’t make sense to vett a horse is if all you want the horse for is a lawn ornament. If you want a performance horse, however, you should know what you are buying and whether there is a reasonable assumption that your new steed can perform its job. So, before you take the plunge and buy old Dobbin, have him vet’ed.
I feel the same way about Supreme Court Justice nominees by the way. I think we can safely say they are well beyond trail horses and into the category of Olympic jumpers so the bar needs to be set very high. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 28, 2009, at 10:44 am
“Answer me this question, because I am very much interested in trying to replace Obama. Okay?”
That is how U.S. Sen. Roland Burris opens the door to the idea of being appointed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the Senate seat left open by the election of Barack Obama. This comes during a taped conversation with Robert Blagojevich, the former gov’s brother and fundraising muscle. Robert Blagojevich, as you may recall from our coverage, is a University of Tampa graduate, and gave the commencement address there a few years back.
But then Burris goes on to say that since it is known that he wanted the appointment, that he couldn’t be raising money for Blago without it being seen as an attempt to buy the seat. Burris said, “Rob, I’m in a dilemma right now trying to help the governor. I’m now trying to figure out what the hell the best thing to do. I know I could give him a check, myself.”
Which he never did.
So, should Roland Burris be removed from the Senate on the basis of this conversation?
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 27, 2009, at 9:40 am
Here’s an interesting idea from New American Media’s Roberto Lovato, writing in HuffPo about the Supreme Court confirmation process for Sonia Sotomayor:
Rather than allow herself to be put at the center of another racism and sexism-laden political circus around the qualifications of a candidate who brings more real-life prosecutorial and actual judicial experience than any other Supreme Court nominee in the last 100 years, Sotomayor should consider another strategy. She — and we — should instead view those hearings as nothing less than a trial to determine whether the GOP is ready to make restitution for its role in a number of judicial and political wrongdoings perpetrated in the Bush era. Those wrongdoings include unleashing unprecedented and dangerous political attacks on Latinos, and breaching the political and electoral contract the “new GOP” said it wanted with Latinos, one of the country’s most important voting blocs.
UPDATE 8:46 a.m.: Barack Obama will announce later this morning his selection of Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the Federal Appeals Court as his nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, The New York Times reports. If confirmed by the Senate she will be the third woman on the court and the first Hispanic justice.
The MSM will undoubtedly cast Obama’s first Supreme Court choice in terms of liberal vs. conservative. While the consequences of Barack Obama’s decision will have political overtones, the real debate centers around how the document in question (the U.S. Constitution) should be interpreted.
In the one camp, there’s Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas.
In the other, Justices Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and John Paul Stevens are firmly situated.
And Obama could announce the next member of the high court as early as today.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 20, 2009, at 12:26 pm
Here’s the latest tweak of our enormously popular governor, from his friends across the aisle in the Florida Democratic Party. It’s the first online ad with the “Cut and Run Crist” theme that the party has been drum-beating since Crist announced his Senatorial bid last week.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 20, 2009, at 11:00 am
2008 GOP presidential nominee John McCain, who spurned Charlie Crist in his vice presidential selection process, has endorsed the Florida governor in Crist’s bid for the U.S. Senate in 2010. The Florida Capital Bureau reports:
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 11, 2009, at 11:09 am
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, who a few months ago expressed interest in Mel Martinez’s seat in the Senate, said today she will not run for statewide or national office in 2010.
“My four-year term as mayor does not end until March 2011 and I believe that running both the city of Tampa and a statewide campaign at the same time over the next eighteen months would shortchange the citizens of Tampa,” she said in a statement e-mailed to supporters and the news media.
Posted by Jim Johnson on May. 11, 2009, at 6:22 am
Many people expect an announcement that Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will say he’s running for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, when the governor is set to announce his political future. To be sure, an open Senate seat does not come along very often … but this could be a major problem for Republicans.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 7, 2009, at 6:58 am
Our governor is not having a good 2009. Maybe it all started when he (rightly) stood with President Barack Obama to tout the economic stimulus plan. Whatever the start of the slide, one thing is increasingly clear: Charlie Crist’s political capital in Tallahassee is near zero.
His clean energy bill — a priority — was killed by the speaker-designate in the House as retribution for not getting messy offshore oil drilling. Crist’s proposed budget was ignored on arrival. He faces a tough primary battle against conservative forces led by Marco Rubio should he decide to seek the U.S. Senate nomination in 2010 that, just a few months ago, was viewed as more of a coronation than an election.
The latest slip in Crist’s power? The Legislature has approved changes that give the governor less latitude when outsourcing public work to private industry. Former Miami Herald scribe Gary Fineout blogs:
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 5, 2009, at 6:15 am
It’s on like Donkey Kong: a battle for the heart and soul of the Florida Republican Party!
Conservative standard-bearer Marco Rubio has thrown his hat into the post-Mel Martinez 2010 U.S. Senate elections, setting up a likely battle royal with Gov. Charlie Crist that will be one of the national Republican Party’s highest profile battle between its conservative faction (Rubio, Jeb Bush) and its centrist, big-tent faction (Crist, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as examples).
Rubio made the announcement on the Spanish language Univision and followed up with a video on YouTube this morning.
Rubio says he wants a balanced budget amendment and pro-business laws. He also obliquely acknowledges the 800-pound GOP elephant in the room that is Crist: “I know that there are people more famous than I who will enter this race. But nothing in life worth doing is easy.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on May. 4, 2009, at 6:20 am
Adam C. Smith, political editor over at the St. Petersburg Times and chief Buzz-ster, asks an intriguing question in light of the party switch of Penn. Sen. Arlen Specter:
Can the stimulus-lovin’ Charlie Crist possibly find a home in the increasingly right-wing GOP?
It’s a crazy question, considering the GOP these days is only marginally more popular than the flu, while the Republican governor of America’s biggest battleground state enjoys astronomical approval ratings.
But it’s worth pondering now that moderate Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania has become a Democrat, and the political world is convinced that the moderate Florida governor is about to run for the U.S. Senate. If Crist runs and wins, he will join Maine’s Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe – a pair reviled by many conservatives – as the only Republican senators who supported President Barack Obama’s stimulus package.
“If you agree with Susan Collins or Olympia Snowe on some of these issues, you might as well become a Democrat,” said former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Republican who is likely to run for the Senate, whether or not Crist does.
In what could be huge news out of Washington, Senator Arlen Specter (R) has announced that he’s switching parties, and will run for re-election to the Senate in 2010 as a Democrat instead of as a Republican. From Sen. Spector’s statement:
Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.
When I supported the stimulus package, I knew that it would not be popular with the Republican Party. But, I saw the stimulus as necessary to lessen the risk of a far more serious recession than we are now experiencing.
Since then, I have traveled the State, talked to Republican leaders and office-holders and my supporters and I have carefully examined public opinion. It has become clear to me that the stimulus vote caused a schism which makes our differences irreconcilable. On this state of the record, I am unwilling to have my twenty-nine year Senate record judged by the Pennsylvania Republican primary electorate. I have not represented the Republican Party. I have represented the people of Pennsylvania.
I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Apr. 20, 2009, at 12:13 pm
This week I was joined by ABC Action News anchor Brendan McLaughlin and Democratic consultant Ana Cruz. We discussed, according to my pre-production notes and links:
Is Obama a wimp? The NYT questions Obama’s determination for a good fight and details how he has compromised and capitulated. And is Obama too enamored with being on TV and being a star and not enough on producing the change he promised? What about this handshake with Hugo Chavez? http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/19/us/politics/19lobby.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Apr. 2, 2009, at 5:58 pm
It might as well be official that Gov. Charlie Crist is in the 2010 US Senate race to replace outgoing Mel Martinez. A prime contender who ran strong in some polls just on name recognition alone, Congressman Connie Mack today revealed he will not run.
As you contemplate this decision, I want to let you know that I have decided not seek election to the U.S. Senate in 2010, and that I will instead seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
I also want you to know that, as you contemplate your own political future, I will be your strongest supporter and champion — regardless of whether you seek re-election or election to the Senate.
The people of Florida are lucky to have you as a public servant, and I’m fortunate to have you as my friend. No matter the decision you make, we will all be fortunate to have you standing up for Florida in the years to come.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Mar. 24, 2009, at 9:11 am
Former House Speaker and keeper of the Jeb! flame Marco Rubio weighs in with another video from his non-campaign for the U.S. Senate. The only real question here is will he go ahead with a run against Charlie Crist (widely expected to seek the cozy Senate seat being abandoned by Melquiades Martinez in 2010 to die on the sword of conservatism against an the infidel governor??
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Feb. 12, 2009, at 12:39 pm
With everybody awaiting Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision on whether he will get in the race or not, early polling in the 2010 U.S. Senate elections in Florida is highly speculative.
But it does have value. On the Democratic side, it helps shape decisions to run or not to run. And it helps the early money figure out on whom to bet, errr, give a campaign contribution.
Given those two benefits, you have to think that today’s Strategic Visions poll on the 2010 race emboldens Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Feb. 6, 2009, at 12:03 pm
The story just breaking today is hung on a pretty thin thread: the fact that St. Pete Mayor Rick Baker told reporter Cristina Silva that “I’m not taking anything off the table.”
What politician doesn’t say that?
The Times‘ blog post starts out:
Mayor Rick Baker said he hasn’t ruled out a potential Senate run.
“I’m not taking anything off the table,” he said when asked whether he would go after the seat being vacated by Republican Mel Martinez.
Baker said that while other Republican politicians are waiting to see whether Gov. Charlie Crist gets in the race, he has other considerations to weigh. “I’m primarily focused on doing my job,” he said. “I don’t want to get distracted.”
UPDATE: By afternoon, the Times was retracting its take on Baker’s plans and Baker was emphatic that he is not considering a run:
The bottom line is he doesn’t have any plans at this point and, unlike Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, is not actively mulling a statewide campaign. He’s not calling money raisers, political pros or anything else.
“I’m not seriously considering it. I’m not ruling it out, but I’m not reviewing it or any of that. From what I’ve read in the paper, mine is a different category from Pam. It sounds like she’s actively reviewing it,” said Baker, who also once again dismissed the possibility of running for Congress if C.W. Bill Young retires because it would require too much time away from his kids, ages 12 and 13. (Presumably a senate seat would too.)
Asked about a gubernatorial run should Charlie Crist jump to the senate, Baker implied that would be more appealing to him, noting that he tends to prefer administrative jobs.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Feb. 3, 2009, at 12:03 pm
But the silver-haired gov tells the Palm Beach Post that he is putting off any decision until (wait for it) after the sessions ends, in May:
“When the session is over I’ve have a long discussion with my wife Carole and make a decision,” he said after meeting with sports industry officials at the mansion this morning.
“I’m focused on the Florida budget and those kinds of issues. I think it’s important to stay focused on the issues of the day. I’m focused on working with the members of the House and Senate to make sure that this budget stays in balance and we provide the needs of the people of Florida. I’m not really thinking about politics.”
Bullshit. That is all the gov thinks about. He is the most political animal I know, and I say that in an admiring way.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jan. 26, 2009, at 3:01 pm
Former House Minority Leader and current Florida Sen. Dan Gelber, to no one’s surprise, is set to announce his Democratic candidacy for Mel Martinez’s seat. The Miami Herald:
Democratic state Sen. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach will announce tomorrow what everybody already knows — that he’s running for the U.S. Senate in 2010.
The race is a Miami-Dade family feud so far, with Democratic U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami as the only other announced candidate. Former House Speaker Marco Rubio of Miami is also expected to run.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jan. 21, 2009, at 9:52 am
Researchers polled it with top Democrat Alex Sink in the race, even though she has announced she will not run, and still it wasn’t great news for Democrats. The Quinnipiac University poll released this week shows the difficulty Obama’s party will have in winning Mel Martinez’s Florida seat in 2010, as I outlined in my column this week.
Atty General Bill McCollum (courtesy myfloridalegal.com)
It was a toss-up with Sink in the race, at least against GOP Attorney General and anti-casino noodge Bill McCollum. McCollum led 36 percent-35 percent. Not exactly a great starting point for your strongest candidate — who is not even running.
The breakdown of the rest of the race:
Had Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink decided to run for the U.S. Senate, she would have had a small early lead in the Democratic field, and run almost even with the best-known GOP potential candidate, Attorney General Bill McCollum, with 35 percent for Sink and 36 percent for McCollum, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.
Although McCollum holds a wide lead in name recognition among the GOP candidates, U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV, son of the former senator with the same name, runs closely to him in a trial heat of GOP contenders and also is viewed very positively by the party-rank-in-file.
“No one has surfaced as a likely Democratic opponent for Gov. Charlie Crist and that’s not surprising given how well he is thought of by Floridians,” said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “It’s impressive at this time of national Obamamania that Gov. Crist’s favorability rating is slightly higher than that of the new President. Of course, it’s still more than 21 months until the 2010 election, but Charlie Crist looks like a very strong candidate for re-election.”
Here is how they stand today (a fairly meaningless exercise, I admit, except for ammo in early fundraising) on the Democratic side:
Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink is expected to announce today that she’s not running for the U.S. Senate, opening the field to a crop of lesser-known contenders.
Sink, the only statewide officeholder on the Democratic shortlist, was seen as the party’s strongest contender for the seat to be vacated by Mel Martinez in 2010. She was being recruited by the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and Emily’s List, a national fundraising group that backs female candidates.
Sink’s decision means she is likely to pursue her real ambition, which is to run for governor — most likely in 2014 when term limits will force Charlie Crist to step down.
That leaves the field wide open for folks such as Sen. Dan Gelber and even such rumorees as Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio, former Congressman Jim Davis, Ron Klein, Allen Boyd, Alex Penelas and just about anyone else with the time and energy to get their name out there statewide.
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jan. 13, 2009, at 1:07 pm
The first big name is officially in the U.S. Senate race to replacing the retiring Mel Martinez. South Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek made it official today, whacking away at the Republicans in Washington right out of the chute in a speech at his home in North Miami:
In the last eight years, we have seen incompetence and bad decision-making by too many in Washington. We have sacrificed our children and grandchildren’s future by saddling them with unprecedented deficits. We borrow money from foreign countries in order to give tax breaks to the wealthiest people. And now we have corporate bailouts with some CEOs abusing tax-payer dollars, continuing with their multi-million dollar salaries, bonuses, corporate jets – and yet they refuse to be accountable to how OUR tax dollars are being used to bail them out.
Today, I call on those corporate leaders to not take one dime in salary or bonus until their business is back on solid ground and they have paid the government back every dollar.
OK, good luck with that request, Kendrick.
His full remarks (as prepared) follows the jump, courtesy of his campaign (which has hired former Barack Obama deputy national campaign manager Steve Hildebrand as the top honcho):
The Republicans thinking about a Senate run work the crowd at the Orlando Rosen Shingle Creek.
Broder whacks Obama: “After a near-perfect month of transition operations, Obama has stumbled twice in two weeks, first being caught unaware by the investigation of Bill Richardson, his choice for commerce secretary, and then being outmaneuvered by Burris and his tawdry sponsor, Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Jan. 6, 2009, at 4:53 pm
This just in from Jeb’s camp:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JEB BUSH ON THE 2010 SENATE RACE
Miami, FL – This afternoon, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush released the following statement on the 2010 United States Senate race in Florida for Senator Mel Martinez’s Senate seat:
“After thoughtful consideration, I have decided not to run for the United States Senate in 2010.
“While the opportunity to serve my state and country during these turbulent and dynamic times is compelling, now is not the right time to return to elected office.
