But before he stood up to speak, U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, let the news slip: "I will say to you, this is not Bill Young's swan song tonight."
That brought a round of applause. And shortly after that, Young shed a little more light on his decision to run for a 21st term in Congress by referring to his outspoken wife Beverly, an activist for supporting U.S. troops.
"Beverly told me that if I didn't run, she was going to," Young said. So he thought, "maybe I better stay on the job."
Young told the crowd of about 500 that he wasn't trying to be coy about his decision whether to run for re-election. He simply doesn't believe in long campaigns or even in raising campaign money during non-election years.
But now that it's 2010, he said, he's excited about running again.
Democrats had badly hoped that Young would decide to hang up his spurs in order to give state Sen. Charlie Justice a clean shot at the seat, but they're probably better off with Young deferring his decision to retire to another cycle. Justice is no great shakes, having proven a major fundraising bust. Barring a major injection of hustle, Justice would have a tough time winning this tossup district with the current Republican headwind in place. Moreover, who knows what this district will look like post-redistricting. Democrats will probably be better off dealing with Young's retirement in a more neutral year.
