Galvin's Out! Who's Up? Who's Down?

The Fray scooped the rest of the blogs (and the Boston Globe) with the news that Secretary of the Commonwealth Bill Galvin has announced that he's running for reelection and not for governor in 2006. So, how are things looking for the rest of the Democratic candidates now that one of them has changed his mind?

Tom Reilly: Up. Tom Reilly polled two-to-one ahead of Deval Patrick in the most recent poll that had just the two of them in the Democratic primary.

Deval Patrick: Down. I really thought Deval Patrick's best chance was if a couple of uncharismatic insider candidates split the vote, allowing him to get the victory. In a head to head matchup with Reilly, Patrick has his work cut out for him.

Cam Kerry: Down. The brother of the Senator was planning on running for Secretary only if Bill Galvin decided to run. Now it looks like Kerry will have to find something else to keep him busy in 2006.

John Bonifaz: Down. Bonifaz is now running against Galvin in the Secretary of State primary. He had an uphill climb running against Kerry, who is an unknown borrowing his brother's name recognition. Running against a well-funded incumbent is going to be many times more difficult.

Bill Galvin: Up. Galvin lives to fight another day, almost guaranteeing himself a job until 2010 when he'll toy with running for governor again for a few months before finally deciding against it. Does anyone else sense a pattern?

Every other elected Democrat: Up. I just can't believe that there are no Democratic office holders in a state full of Democratic office holders who are willing to take on Tom Reilly for the gubernatorial nomination. I would have imagined that there would be a long list of Democrats salivating at the chance to take on Kerry Healey for the corner office. Maybe they are just holding back until Governor Romney makes his own announcement, but I'm really surprised that not more candidates are surfacing to take a chance against a wealthy but uninspiring and gaffe-prone Lieutenant Governor.