Apparently it's retread hour in the Great State of Ohio: it's now former Senator Mike DeWine's turn to reenter the atmosphere.
Will it be Governor? Senator? Attorney General? Dogcatcher? Only time will tell...
"I intend to run next year, and there are a lot of different possibilities," DeWine said. "I have not ruled anything out."
DeWine would not dismiss running against Rob Portman in the Republican Senate primary, though the two are on good terms from serving in Congress together.
"Rob and I are friends, and we’ve talked over the last few months about a lot of things," DeWine said. "I’ve got to go through my own assessment."
DeWine also is considering a campaign for governor against Democrat Ted Strickland — or for the state's attorney general position.
DeWine was rather unceremoniously booted out of Washington in 2006, losing by double digits - 56% to 44% - to Democrat Sherrod Brown, who himself is not exactly known as a conservative or centrist. This was, with the exception of Bob Casey's resounding victory over Rick Santorum the same year, the largest margin of defeat for a Senate incumbent since Bill Frist beat Jim Sasser in Tennessee in 1994.
Still, DeWine's best shot may indeed be at the open-seat Senate race, since his polling numbers against Governor Ted Strickland look pretty bad. So do those of his chief rival for the nomination, John Kasich:
Quinnipiac. 1/29-2/2. Registered voters. MoE 2.9%.
Ted Strickland (D) 54
Mike DeWine (R) 32
Ted Strickland (D) 56
John Kasich (R) 26
These are very different numbers from some of the others we've seen so far (from Public Policy Polling) on the Governor's race, and they show Strickland near invulnerable (with a commanding 60/19 favorable/unfavorable rating).
It's the first time we've seen DeWine matched up againt Strickland, though, and the numbers are underwhelming.
A run for Attorney General against incumbent Democrat Richard Cordray might be pretty tough sailing for DeWine, as well. Personally, if I were DeWine, I'd run for Secretary of State if the incumbent Democrat, Jennifer Brunner, runs for U.S. Senate.
This would help Republicans get control of the Apportionment Board, which controls legislative redistricting, if DeWine won.
Hopefully, though, DeWine won't listen to me, and he'll wage a long-shot bid at Governor or Senate.