Ford Not Planning On It, While Sununu Dances and Inhofe Gets Challenged

A few bits for your Wednesday morning:

Tennessee: The Chattanooga Times Free Press and the Nashville City Paper both have Harold Ford suggesting that he has "no plans" to enter the 2008 Senate race, listing his other time commitments, from a possible DLC position to teaching at Vanderbilt to assisting Governor Bredesen.

New Hampshire: The Nashua Telegraph and Portsmouth Herald both run an AP piece on John Sununu's continued hedging on Iraq. It is good to see that this framing of Sununu is being pervasive as Democrats enter the race to challenge him.

Oklahoma: Global-warming-denier Jim Inhofe will have a primary challenge, so reports the Tulsa World:

Tulsan Stephen P. Wallace says he intends to campaign for the U.S. Senate seat now held by fellow Republican Jim Inhofe in 2008.

Inhofe is expected to seek re-election.

Wallace, who might be best known for his unsuccessful 2004 challenge to the city of Tulsa's settlement of a lawsuit against several poultry producers, has filed a statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and issued a press release announcing his candidacy.

Wallace, 57, said he intends to focus on judicial reform and accountability. He is a graduate of Cascia Hall and holds degrees from Loyola of Chicago and Southern Methodist universities.

Wallace operates the Independent Justice Institute, a for-profit company that specializes in taxpayer demand petitions.

It's always helpful when incumbent Republicans face primary challenges - just ask Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island.

UPDATE (12:18pm): Sununu is really trying to dance his way out of a job. Iraq will wedge Senate Republicans and cost a few of them their jobs. CNN reports:

At least seven Republican senators have said they flatly oppose the troop increase: Sam Brownback of Kansas, [Nebraska's Chuck] Hagel, Norm Coleman of Minnesota, Gordon Smith of Oregon, George Voinovich of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine and Olympia Snowe of Maine.

Brownback and Hagel are running for President. Coleman, Smith, and Collins are running for re-election. Voinovich just saw his old colleague, Mike DeWine, get ousted. And Snowe, like Collins, represents moderate Maine. And what is John Sununu of New Hampshire doing?

Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia, and John Sununu, R-New Hampshire -- both up for re-election in 2008 -- say they think Bush's plan might work, but only if the Iraqis come up with a way to share oil and reach other political milestones.

That middle-ground, wait-and-see lack of leadership might work for Chambliss in Georgia, which is one of the fastest red-trending states in the nation; but it won't work for Sununu in rapidly-blue-trending New Hampshire.