Bart Stupak for Governor.

     Hold it.  Didn't the Upper Peninsula Congressman just announce his retirement?

     He sure did.

     And didn't he say he was tired of all that time he spent on the road away from his family? 

     Right again.

     So what's with this Stupak for Governor stuff?     If it has not happened yet, it most certainly will.  Some Democrat will ask Stupak to at least consider getting into the field which many Democrats feel is about as lackluster as can be.  To put it gently, the Angriest Mayor in American, the GOP-leaning Democratic House Speaker and the competent, yet grossly under funded Representative from Ann Arbor are not doing too well against the GOP field and Stupak might do better.

     It's not as if Stupak has never thought about it.  Last year on Mackinac Island his name was in the mix until he unmixed it and each cycle prior to that his name always appeared on the short list of would-be gov.contenders.

     Frankly he'd be a good candidate, but he did make it pretty clear the other day that he was ready for a change to "try something new" as he told his friends and supporters at his withdrawal news conference in Marquette.

     The grind of getting home from Washington on Thursday night at one a.m. and leaving five hours later to traverse his 31 county district had taken its toll he reflected and maybe, he thought out loud, it might be time to grab a rocker on his front porch and "watch the sailboats go by."  So why would he trade a 31 county assignment for an 83 county drill if he ran for governor?    Yet he is a young man, has a proven track record and has appeal to the all important independent voters. And despite his pro-life voting record, you can not automatically count him out just like you can't dismiss pro-life Speaker Andy Dillon either     If you read the tea leaves, Stupak would have to do a 180 by May 11th to get in the race and that, at this read, seems pretty far-fetched.  But then John Cherry dropping out of the race for governor was equally as far-fetched.