He sure sounds like he’s running

On Friday I talked to Corey O’Brien, the Lackawanna County Commissioner who’s considering a primary challenge to Congressman Paul Kanjorski (D-11), in part because of Kanjorski’s vote against the stimulus package.

Reports, including mine, have described him as still in the thinking-about-it stage. But he sure sounds like he wants in.

During our interview, even as he said he hadn’t decided yet, O’Brien often forgot to add the “ifs” and “maybes” that most potential candidates are careful to throw into their early rhetoric.

“I’m running for Congress,” he said at one point. “I’m not running against Paul Kanjorski.”

This is also a bit of cognitive dissonance he might need to consider. No one runs against Kanjorski without running hard against Kanjorski, and his frequent criticisms of the incumbent made that clear.

Either way, political risk isn’t new to O’Brien. Remember this?