Republicans seek to recruit Lou Dobbs for Governor

by: Thurman Hart

Thu Jun 12, 2008 at 02:17:15 AM EDT

Reached by telephone Wednesday at his home -- a 300-acre horse farm in Wantage, Sussex County -- Dobbs would not say whether he has any such plans. Asked if he wanted to deny it, Dobbs said, "I'm just not going to comment."

Dobbs, 62, first registered to vote in Sussex County in 1991 as a Republican, but switched to independent in 2006, according to the county Board of Elections.

State Republican Chairman Tom Wilson said Dobbs' interest in the Garden State's governorship is circulating among Republican officials and fund-raisers in Manhattan and Washington. Several told The Star-Ledger they had heard about it, although not directly from Dobbs.

"It's certainly a fun and interesting rumor but if he's seriously interested he'd be better off talking to people who actually live in New Jersey and who know what it takes to mount a campaign for governor," said Wilson, who managed the 1997 re-election campaign of then-Gov. Christie Whitman. If Dobbs is thinking about running for the GOP nomination, Wilson said, "The first thing he should do is register as a Republican."

Hmmm, Dobbs works for CNN, which is derided by Faux News as being a bastion of leftiness.  Of course, when you are at ten on the extremist scale, an eight looks pretty soft.  Still, it would be one way to get this blowhard off the air - even if it only lasted a year or so.

Just as interesting is Tom Wilson's open admission of political opportunism:

Wilson said there is someone whom Republican leaders in New Jersey would like to see run for governor, "and right now it's not Lou Dobbs, it's Chris Christie," the U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

Wonder if Dodd's ego could take second billiing as Lt. Gov...