Even if it was close, it would go down as a win for the mayor. He still has the magic touch.

I told him that if he ran (for governor) his bipartisan honeymoon as mayor would come to an end and partisanship would dominate quickly.

Our joke sitting there was that his drinking less than an ounce would shift to a shot and a beer.

He has to make a credible case that what he's doing isn't damaging the party but, rather, reinvigorating it.

You can get a nomination and the individual winning is unacceptable to a large faction of the party. That's a problem.

The lay of the land appears very amenable to close, hard-fought campaigns.