In another sign of just how badly the House Republicans are struggling with candidate recruitment, the NRCC has now failed after multiple entreaties to recruit a big name for the open seat in Arizona -- even though a strong Republican would probably be favored to win it.

State Senate President Ken Bennett announced today that he will not be running for the seat of Rep. Rick Renzi, who is retiring due to ethics scandals. The Democrats have a strong candidate lined up in former state Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, while Republicans have been struggling to find a big name -- Bennett even turned them down previously, before they got him to briefly reconsider.

The district voted 54%-45% for President Bush in 2004, and having native son John McCain at the top of the ticket could only help the GOP nominee. But it would seem this is another case of Republicans being less than eager to run for the House -- perhaps the biggest risk is winning, and then serving in what is expected to be a powerless GOP minority.