This morning’s Orlando Sentinel brings bad news for those who had Bill McCartney or Barry Switzer in CSTB’s “Which College Football Coach Will Replace Tom Osborne in the House of Representatives” pool. Hot off coaching a Tony Rice-led team of former Irish space cowboys to a win in Japan, Lou Holtz (above, left) has announced — presumably through a spokesperson who speaks more clearly than he — that he is considering a run against incumbent Democrat Suzanne Kosmas for the U.S. House of Representatives in Florida’s 24th District. In the Sentinel, Mark Matthews outlines the positives and negatives of a Holtz campaign:

Holtz already lives in the east Central Florida district, near Lake Nona. And though he’s never run for office, he has a reputation as a loyal GOP soldier. In 2007, he gave an hour-long pep talk to Republican House members still stung from losses in 2006.

Holtz also has been a steady GOP contributor, giving thousands of dollars to Republican presidential candidates and more recently $3,000 to House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. He also gave $2,300 last year to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, election records show.

“He has a Rolodex that people would dream of ¦ people are going to flock to him,” (Republican consultant John) Dowless said.

But for all his potential advantages, a Holtz campaign would come with its own problems. For one, Holtz, 72, is much older than a typical rookie candidate; if elected, he likely would not hold the seat for very long. And his history on television isn’t without controversy.

Well, yeah, depending on how you feel about comparing Rich Rodriguez to Adolf Hitler. But, as Jockish’s David Raposa caught months ago, Holtz’s blithe, blustery ignorance makes him a pretty solid look as a Republican House candidate. At Everyday Should Be Saturday, Don Lacuran extends his endorsement.

Granted, there™s probably a case to be made that Holtz couldn™t be that much worse than must of the fruit cups currently representing us on Capitol Hill, but the mere concept remains so intensely, willfully surreal on its face that there can only be one possible purpose for it: grooming a suitably bonkers running mate for Sarah Palin™s inevitable 2012 presidential campaign.

Good photoshop work from Lacuran, too. And better captioning.