Rumor mill
Referring to rumors that have flared up again in the last day about Gov. Jim Doyle's future, Rep. Fitzgerald asked where the governor has been as this budget process wound down.
"Where is Gov. Doyle?" Fitzgerald asked. "Is he still in D.C. interviewing for that next position?"
The speculation has been that the governor may be in line for the position of director of the Peace Corps, and he may be announcing the appointment in the near future. Doyle staff and sources close to Doyle have vehemently denied that he is considering such an offer or that he intends to take any position in the Obama Administration.
Doyle has not, however, confirmed that he will run for a third term in 2010, saying for now he is focused on finishing the budget.
-- By Greg Bump
2 Comments:
The wild card here is Barbara Lawton. Doyle doesn't want to pass the gubernatorial baton to her for a couple of reasons. He just plain doesn't like her, but more importantly he sees her as a weak candidate for Governor in 2010, which is rather justifiable given her lackluster fundraising.
Seems unlikely that Doyle would leave without resolving this issue. One possibility is to ask Obama to appoint Lawton to something, anything. Doyle would get to choose a new Lt. Governor (with Senate approval, but that's a done deal), and then he could ride off into the sunrise. His new Lt. Gov. would become Governor, and next year the Republicans would have to run against his handpicked incumbent successor.
Sweet, if he can pull it off.
Doyle commented directly on the rumors on Monday, saying he has never asked for a job in the Obama administration and has never been approached for a post.
See this June 29 Budget Blog post for more: Doyle says he hasn't been approached about D.C. job
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