More dirt is being dished on their senate candidate Alan Schlesinger, and Rell and Gallo continue to urge him to drop out of the race. Obviously there's some coordinated effort here among the state Republican brass. But to what end?

Chuck Todd reported today that he believes that the endangered Reps. Shays, Simmons, and Johnson will all endorse Lieberman after the primary as a way to prove their "moderate" credentials. Shays, of course, already has.

So do the state Republicans really have a more high-profile candidate waiting in the wings (or perhaps one with a bigger bank account)? Or is their real aim here to clear the field so that Sen. Lieberman (Lieberman-CT) - endorsed by the entire Republican House delegation - will have an easier shot to win in November?

One person to ask is Chris Shays himself. Does he rule out jumping into the Senate race if Schlesinger drops out? Or would he actually prefer that his party have an empty line on the ballot in November, so as to help his own preferred senate candidate, Joe Lieberman?