Frank Phillips reports that State Treasurer Tim Cahill who was swept into office in 2002 with his “Tim for Treasurer” slogan, is considering a challenge to Deval Patrick for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2010.  Cahill is also contemplating avoiding the Democratic primary altogether by running as an independent.

The Globe gives Cahill a preview of that paper’s thoughts on such a candidacy by relegating that story to the front of the Metro section while gracing the paper’s front page with a report that both of Cahill’s highly publicized recent revenue proposals are seriously flawed: His plan to license slot machine parlors around the state uses stale, pre-recession financial estimates and thereby overstates the expected revenue and his proposal to privatize the lottery has long been ruled illegal by the US Department of Justice.  If that’s not enough, the lead editorial in today’s paper condemns both proposals and urges Cahill to “fold this weak hand.”

I always assumed Cahill was positioning himself to run against Lt Gov Tim Murray for Governor once Deval departed, but it now seems his timetable has been pushed up.  The risk he now runs is that a dozen people around the state are at this moment ramping up their campaigns for Treasurer.  If Cahill ultimately decides to simply run for re-election as Treasurer, he might face his own challenge for the nomination.  So - “Tim for Governor”  – what do you think?