The Pete Sessions - David Frost race here in Dallas is getting to be a pretty good one. In fact, it's one of the hottest races nationwide.

Truth be told, though, I'm looking forward to the 2006 Texas Governor race. There's talk that Kay Bailey Hutchinson may get in the race. Carole Keeton Strayhorn (state comptroller) may also run since she is Perry's (current gov.) biggest rival in the Texas GOP.

I'd love to see Daschle go down in South Dakota.

I agree that there may be value in professional diversity, but there's another way to see this:

I love when successful businessmen run for office, mostly because you know they don't have to do it and they're not in it for some monetary gain.

Not true. They may very well be in it specifically for the monetary gain. The formula: take 15 years in business, develop partnerships, take office, allot favors, step down, let partners return favors to your new business.

I mean, as businessman, we know specifically that this person is motivated by monetary gain; and as a successful businessman, we know that this person is good at utilizing the resources available to him. So should we be surprised when he then uses the resources available to him as a Senator to further pursue his business interests? No. Not really.

Taking a sabbatical as a politician is not the same thing as retiring because you made more money than you know what to do with.

So his experience and interests might not be detrimental for the state, and it may act as a good counterbalance against other interests embedded in the Senate, but it certainly doesn't mean the guy's an ideological angel.

The thing is, though, that businessmen who run for office are generally very well off already. They're not doing it to get rich.

The key Senate race is right here in Oklahoma -- a battle between Tom Coburn, a principled small-government conservative, and Brad Carson, a liberal Democrat who pretends to be conservative back home. Carson has run some effective attack ads and now has a slight lead in the polls. Coburn has the strong support of Club for Growth, which has identified this race as its top priority. Here's what Steve Moore had to say about the race:

"If you want to know why we are so enthusiastic about Dr. Coburn, listen to this rant from a lobbyist in Washington about why this man is detested by the tax eaters:

"'He’s one of those ’94 guys, and there were a certain percentage of them who were so anti-system that they don’t want to play the game. And from a leadership perspective and a lobbyist perspective, we don’t like those kind of people…He’s going to be a frickin’ nightmare in the Senate [if he wins].'

"That’s precisely why we MUST elect Coburn to the Senate. He will be a human vacuum cleaner, scooping up the pork and the expensive taxpayer-funded turkeys embedded in the spending bills. He will vote to shrink the Great Society Welfare State, not grow it, as so many Republicans did last year with Medicare."

Pete Coors brings no diversity to the Senate. Like our two presidential candidates and Senators Allen, Kennedy, Dodd, Clinton and Dole, Coors is running on his name. While I would probably vote for Coors if I lived in Colorado, there are worse Democrats than Salazar (who opposes abortion). And he is as much a businessman as Steve Forbes is. Coors made money the old fashioned way; his father died. I hope Club for Growth is also targeting South Dakota. But then with their track record....

Karol's question intrigues me. There are some close races this time out; Alaska comes to mind since another Republican heiress is in big trouble. Here in Illinois, most of the state is ready to celebrate the end of the career of one presidential candidate and celebrate the start of another (me ? I'm voting for the Libertarian since Keyes has always been a stalking horse for necons since he shared a room with Bill Kristol). In Florida, there is a close race that is not exactly pretty. I hope McCullom does not sulk in his tent since I think Bush needs a united party there. Still, the race I'm curious about is NC. I think if the Dems are looking to grow in the South, the old North State may be their best bet.

John Thune, by far.