Let The Games Begin

CHAOS THEORY

Candidates Ask, "Why Not Me?"

The dust certainly hasn't settled. Politicos are still trying to figure out why Governor Matt Blunt did what he did Tuesday.

It's being compared to Gov. Bob Holden's primary election defeat in 2004 at the hands of Claire McCaskill and Gov. Mel Carnahan's death in a plane crash in 2000 as he was running for the U.S. Senate against Sen. John Ashcroft. This political earthquake is rocking Missouri's less than predictable landscape, and tremors are expected to reverberate for weeks, if not longer.

Watch my KY3 News @ 10 report HERE.

Republicans may want to hold a reality show to pick their 2008 nominee. Here are 8 points to consider:

1) Should Republicans pick a candidate who didn't cast a vote on the Medicaid cuts?

2) Sarah Steelman must be kicking herself about her timing. Maybe ambiguous, titillating press releases that don't follow through deliver bad karma. Will she now re-evaluate her plans at running for another term as Treasurer?

3) "She's my least desirable pick," one Springfield Republican tapped into the G.O.P. scene told me. He was referring to Steelman. Do other party people feel the same way?

4) Which possible candidate has higher statewide name identification than former Sen. Jim Talent?

5) Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder gets points for jumping in first. But how important is it to be the first candidate in the arena? Will his ties to Blunt end up being a liability?

6) How influential will Matt Blunt be in picking his potential successor? Will he campaign for the candidate -- and will that candidate want him to?

7) Southwest Missouri is the conservative breadbasket of the state. Matt Blunt was the hometown Governor. His base was here. Whoever decides to jump in won't have that conservative hometown advantage -- so any one of them will have to work for it, and earn it.

8) Which Republican candidates does Jay Nixon most fear? How does he adjust his message without knowing who his opponent will be?