BOSTON, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- White House Chief of Staff Andy Card has emerged as a potential candidate for Massachusetts governor in 2006 if Gov. Mitt Romney doesn't seek another term.
Card, a former Massachusetts state legislator, "would have instant credibility and the ability to raise a lot of cash quite quickly," a Republican insider with close White House ties said.
With Romney considering a run for the White House in 2008, Bay State Republicans are preparing for the possibility he won't seek a second term so he can campaign for president on a fulltime basis.
Besides Card, the Boston Herald said Monday, other Republicans mentioned include Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Chief Executive Officer Charles D. Baker, who served in the Cabinet of former GOP Gov. William F. Weld.
"I'm sure it is something Andy will look at," an unidentified source said. "But it is not on his radar screen right now."
Card ran for governor in 1982 but finished third in the GOP primary behind John W. Sears and John Lakian. Sears went on to lose the general election to Democrat Michael Dukakis.
