If she did run for Governor, she would not run for re-election to Congress, giving up her spot as the #2 Democrat on the House Budget Committee, her position in DCCC leadership, a significant opportunity to enter House Democratic leadership (the #1 Democrat on the Budget Committee, Rep. Chris Van Hollen, has leadership aspirations, and one of them will be the next Democrat in leadership while the other is the #1 Democrat on the Budget Committee), and a safe seat in Congress in exchange for a chance (no guarantee she would win a competitive primary–she knows it is no more than a “chance” from having lost the primary for U.S. Senate in 2000) to run against a well-funded incumbent.

It is amazing to me that anybody believed that that was a real possibility (it is nice to be rumored for it, but that doesn’t make it serious). If Congresswoman Schwartz was seriously considering a run for Governor in 2014, she would not have been offered, nor would she have accepted, the DCCC Finance Chair post.

Members of Congress do not hire experienced fundraisers like Aubrey Montgomery for their own safe districts (Aubrey was the fundraiser in far more competitive seats when she was far less experienced). But that doesn’t mean Congresswoman Schwartz is going to run for Governor in 2014 (see above as to why she is not) or U.S. Senate in 2016. Congresswoman Schwartz would like to run for Senate in 2016, but only if she has a clear path in the primary and Sen. Toomey looks vulnerable in the general. Otherwise, she will not give up all of those opportunities in the House.

I hope you people will understand this position, and getting ready for possibly moving into leadership, is the reason she hired Aubrey Montgomery and has banked more than $3 million in her campaign account.