FLASHPOINT for Oct 17, 2007

Only inside the Beltway would the vultures be circling three years before someone is up for reelection. But that's what's happening in D.C. as ambitious senators already are talking - all right, whispering - about succeeding Majority Leader Harry Reid. So says Roll Call, which reported this week that although Reid is signaling he will run in 2010, that isn't stopping the speculation. So who's circling? Chuck Schumer, Chris Dodd and Dick Durbin. There is the expected denial from Reid spokesman Jim Manley that the senator is even considering retiring - "He intends to run when he's up in three years." But even that verb will get more D.C. mouths chattering. Intends? He intends? Well, maybe he will change his mind and then his intentions!