Senate

Stephen Lynch seems to think so. Of course, his ascension to the house of solons would require John Kerry to be appointed Secretary of State or something. But he's got $1-million+ burning a hole in his bank account and running in a special election would mean he gets to stay in the House when he loses, so why not?

On the Republican side, "party leaders and consultants" are actually chatting up Bill Weld. Bill Weld? When did they repeal the residency requirement for running for statewide office?

This has to be some sort of a first. The boston.com Political Intelligence blog has a snarky post about wannabe Senate candidate Jim Ogonowski's embarrassing failure to file, by today's deadline, enough signatures to qualify for the Republican primary. (He was 300 30 short of the required 10,000.) Who posts the first comment? Why Ogonowski himself:

Despite what you may have read, I am proud to tell you that I will be turning in more than the required 10,000 certified signatures to get on the ballot. I am thankful to the 22,000 people across Massachusetts who signed my nomination papers and for all the hard work of the town clerks who had to go through all the names and certify them.

Too bad he doesn't explain how he plans to deal with that pesky little deadline problem.

Lance writes Schilling, who lives in Medfield, could make a credible candidate - and help revive the state Republican Party:

... He brings instant name recognition and popularity. Everyone in Massachusetts knows who Curt Schilling is, and they probably have a generally positive view of him. The old joke is that a member of the 2004 Red Sox will never have to buy a drink in Massachusetts. That level of built in support would go a long way. Instead of volunteers running around in orange jumpsuits, he'll have his supporters wearing "bloody socks." In a strange way, that would be endearing. ...