US Senate - good news and bad news

There seems to be good news and bad news today when it comes to US Senate candidates for 2010. From the PolitickerPA:

Stop speculating: Chris Matthews isn't running for U.S. Senate. At least that's what his brother told PolitickerPA.com.

Jim Matthews was left with that strong impression after speaking with the MSNBC host when he returned from a two-week vacation in Jamaica.

"There's no hint of him running for office," Jim Matthews told PolitickerPA.com in an interview Monday. "That's 1,000 percent true."

1000% percent's not enough for me...I'll sleep better when the filing deadline closes. It's bad enough we'll likely have to suffer through a Senator Al Franken without having Matthews there too, (what's next, Olbermann?).

At least without Matthews we wont have to hear about a US Senator getting a "thrill up his leg" during State of the Union speeches from "The One".

And the bad news? Well, it's more bad news for the GOP (and conservatives in general). From the St. Pete Times:

Republican excitement over the prospect of Jeb Bush running for U.S. Senate has given way to increasing speculation that the former governor will stay out of the race.

Bush declined to comment for this article but was expected to make an announcement perhaps as early as this week.

Even with his father on national TV Sunday touting Bush as a terrific potential future senator or president, friends say family considerations could outweigh the pull of public service. ...

Justin Sayfie, another fundraiser and a former Bush aide, acknowledged that the perception among many Republican activists has shifted from predictions that Bush was about to jump in to a more "neutral" view as the former governor's interest looked more uncertain.

"I put it at dead even - 50/50. I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to run, I wouldn't be surprised if he decided not to run,'' said Sayfie, who met with Bush a few weeks ago. "Once he makes a decision in his own mind he does not like to keep that decision to himself for very long. If he decided not to do it, I think it comes sooner rather than later."

Hopefully, those who can will bring pressure to bear on him to go ahead and toss his hat in the ring. With Florida getting a little more dicey in statewide elections, the GOP could really use having Jeb at the top of the ticket in 2010. The last thing we can afford right now is to put open Republican seats in any more jeopardy than they will already be in.