Yesterday, there were reports that Tom Davis had decided against running for John Warner’s open Senate seat in 2008.
This morning, the Post is reporting that Davis is still “agonizing” over the decision:
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.) said last night that he will hold a news briefing Thursday to provide a more “definitive” picture of whether he will run for the U.S. Senate next year but that he still plans to wait until after the Nov. 6 election to make a final decision.
Late yesterday, several GOP officials said Davis would announce Thursday that he would not seek the Republican nomination. But the Fairfax County lawmaker said he’s not ready to make such an announcement this week. He said he continues to “agonize” over the decision and will probably “agonize some more” Thursday.
“I don’t really know what I’m going to do,” he said. “I’ve got some pretty strong thoughts on it. We’re planning to sit down after November to do some additional polling and additional surveying. I don’t know that I’ll be definitive on Thursday, but I’ll certainly be more forthcoming.”
Davis has been sending strong signals recently that he is unlikely to be a Senate candidate next year. One GOP official, who talked on condition of anonymity because Davis did not authorize him to speak, said Davis had all but made up his mind last week not to run and has told people as much. But in the past 24 hours or so, the source said, Davis has been having second thoughts about saying he is not running.
Now, it seems Davis is having second thoughts about his second thoughts. Politically, it seems the smart thing to do would be to wait this out. As Davis himself notes, it’s going to be hard for a Republican to be elected dogcatcher i n2008 given the poisoned atmosphere that the Bush Administration has created. And, as things stand right now, Mark Warner stands to beat whoever the Republican nominee in 2008 might be. Sitting out 2008 and waiting to see what the climate in 2012 is like is the smart move.
