Capitol Report says Shays out of gov race

Gotta give credit where it's due, and CT Capitol Report appears to have scooped the local media on this story, reposted here:

SHAYS WILL NOT SEEK GOVERNOR'S OFFICE

Tuesday, February, 23, 2010

Former Congressman Christopher Shays will not seek the office of Governor, he told Capitol Report this morning.

"I will not be running for Governor," Shays told Capitol Report. " I would love to be part of the debate. I believe I would win. And I would dearly love to serve and help get our State out of the huge mess it is in. But Betsi and I simply can't make it work financially. After quitting my job to run for Governor and serving four years in office we would be nearly bankrupt, the very problem I would be helping to get the State out of."

OK, I have a few observations here.

BTW, is it OK to use "OK" as a word, or do you think it's better to use the word "okay"? I always wondered about that.

BTW, how do you feel about "BTW"?

(And I wonder why nobody ever takes me seriously.)

So, Chris Shays isn't running for governor. According to Shays, he's a sure bet to win if he did. What politician would say differently, I ask you? But he just can't seem to scrape by with that paltry $150K salary that comes with the office, along with those many juicy perks that come with the office that aren't easy to quantify. Cry me a river, Chris; I'm about 10 minutes from losing my job and the prospects out there aren't too good these days. For reals, bro.

It looks like there's a slight chance he's going to focus on the 4th District Congressional seat currently held by Jim Himes, which he lost in 2008 by a fairly close margin. It's a possibility, anyway.

What I really think he's going to do is run a campaign to raise funds in order to pay off his extraordinary debts from 2008, which apparently number in the hundreds of thousands. The way I understand it, if he runs for the same seat he lost, he can apply any funds he raises to his outstanding debt; whereas if he runs for governor, that would have to be kept separate.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, because this is merely speculation based upon what I've heard during chats with various bloggers, politics junkies, and other ne'er-do-wells who enjoy gossiping during our many extended bullshitting sessions.

Anyway, I'd like to expound further on this topic, but it's 8AM already and I gotta get to an eye doctor appointment this morning, as I need new glasses and I'm hurrying to take advantage of my medical insurance before I lose it.

But I'm lucky; at least I don't have Chris Shays's problems!