Paul Soglin might have imagined himself as a gubernatorial candidate at one point or another on the long strange trip that has been his political career.

But the former Madison mayor, who has been out of office for more than a dozen years, has scrupulously avoided the lure of electoral politics since his narrow defeat in a 2003 comeback bid.

So why did Soglin declare last week that "if there is no viable Democratic gubernatorial candidate by Thanksgiving, I will announce my candidacy on Dec. 1, 2009"?

To an extent, the former mayor was playing the provocateur.

After suggesting himself as a contender, Soglin wrote on his Waxing America blog: "That will teach them."

The "them" refers to the insiders who have mangled the gubernatorial competition within Soglin's Democratic Party.

And the Madisonian does have something to teach them.

Soglin's as savvy as they come about politics. Remember, this is a guy who recognized the electoral potential of the student movements of the 1960s and used it to beat a veteran downtown alder in 1968 and then, at age 27, cobbled together a college-and-community coalition that defeated conservative Mayor Bill Dyke in 1973. After three terms, Soglin left office, only to step back into the arena in 1989, when he upended Mayor Joe Sensenbrenner.

Soglin's great dream was to replace former Congressman Robert Kastenmeier, a fellow liberal who -- so the theory went -- would step down at the appropriate time and make way for the younger man. But that plan was upset by Kastenmeier's 1990 loss to Republican upstart Scott Klug -- and by Klug's defeat of Soglin in a 1996 pairing.

But Soglin, whose political ego and ambitions were never modest, would undoubtedly have accepted an invitation to the gubernatorial field.

Unfortunately, the invite never came. Madison mayors are not generally seen as hot prospects in statewide contests. (The last one to become governor was Albert Schmedeman, who benefited perhaps just a bit because he ran in 1932 on a Democratic ticket headed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.)

If Soglin had been so inclined, he certainly could have bid for governor in 1994 or 1998, years when Democrats were casting about for credible contenders to take on the political behemoth that was Tommy Thompson. Had he run in either of those years, Soglin would have been able to make a strong case for himself -- and he undoubtedly would have run better than former state Senate Majority Leader Chuck Chvala, the hapless Democratic nominee in 1994.

Soglin is, after all, an able administrator with a flair for combining academic theories about public policy with hands-on management. As mayor, he hired exceptional administrators and earned a respect from city employees that meant they gave 110 percent. That equation kept the confidence of taxpayers, who paid in substantial revenues but got back substantial services.

Mayor Soglin balanced budgets, initiated bold changes and built unexpected alliances. He got the city's bond rating upgraded to AAA status and could credibly claim to have taken at least some of the steps that led to Madison's designation as the most livable city in the country.

Soglin's skills are precisely what are required of a governor. His track record is superior to that of any of the current contenders for the state's top job.

So why shouldn't Soglin be taken seriously as a candidate for governor? Indeed, why shouldn't he run?

The answer has less to do with the former mayor than with the sorry state of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, which is the circumstance Soglin is trying to address with his speculation about a "that'll teach 'em" bid.

As he noted on his blog, "The Democrats do not have a candidate for governor. Jim Doyle, knowing he was not to seek re-election, announced early so that viable candidates might emerge and begin the long arduous campaign accompanied with the requisite fundraising. As of today, no candidate has emerged."

That, Soglin observed, is a problem of a "critical nature."

Of course, the real problem is not that "no candidate" has emerged.

The problem is that no credible candidates have emerged.

The notion that Democratic insiders should anoint a party nominee nine or 10 months before the September 2010 primary is a symptom of what's wrong with the party as it has evolved under Doyle's "leadership."

Eight years ago, when the Democrats last were presented with the task of picking a gubernatorial nominee, the field was crowded. Doyle, Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk and Congressman Tom Barrett (now the mayor of Milwaukee and a much-speculated-about 2010 contender) were all running. The competition was intense, and it certainly did not hurt the party. Indeed, in 2002, a miserable year for Democrats nationally, Wisconsin Democrats retook the governorship for the first time in 16 years.

A Democratic Party that does not produce multiple candidates for an open gubernatorial chair is unhealthy. Too defined by insider concerns about fundraising, regional strengths and weaknesses and November positioning, the party is lost in calculation rather than engaged in building for the future.

The Republicans will have a multi-candidate primary for governor next September, with at least two high-profile contenders (Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Congressman Mark Neumann) and several serious if lower-profile candidates (including Wisconsin Rapids Police and Fire Commission Chair Scott Paterick and Appleton businessman Mark Todd). The big field identifies the GOP as a vibrant party with prospects to choose from and potential to win next November.

Democrats would do well to match the level of energy and engagement that the Republicans are displaying. That's the point Soglin is trying to make. It's a good one. And it marks Soglin as something all too rare these days: a prominent Wisconsin Democrat who understands the need for his party to present itself as something more than an insiders' club preparing to name the next manager of the status quo.

Soglin wasn't taking himself too seriously when he mused about throwing his hat into the ring.

But, frankly, Soglin's party and his state would be well served if he -- and a crowd of other prominent Democrats -- did run.

John Nichols is the associate editor of The Capital Times. jnichols@madison.com

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