An astute Republican, who’s keeping an eye on governor’s races, offers this thought:

Look at this list of governors’ races on the Democrat side:
· Wisconsin: Doyle not running. LG bailed. White House has now recruited Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to run.
· John Cherry out in Michigan.
· Ritter out in Colorado. (If Ken Salazar jumps in, there’s another White House connection.)
· New York: David Paterson is still running, despite a much-publicized attempt by the White House to prevent him from doing so.
See some sort of pattern emerging here? Are Democrats – who are perceived to be in trouble – being bumped out of the way by Obama?
Who’s next? Culver in Iowa or Strickland in Ohio? Both?

In Colorado, I’d note that former state-house speaker Andrew Romanoff might decide to run for governor, ending a primary bid to replace embattled Democratic senator Michael Bennet.

I tend to doubt the White House’s leverage with Strickland in Ohio; a staunch Hillary backer, he waited about 30 seconds after Obama won the nomination before saying he wasn’t interested in being his running mate.