WASHINGTON -- One approaches the race fray with trepidation, but here we go, tippy-toe.

The race cards have been flying so fast and furious lately, one can hardly tell the kings from the queens.

Former state CFO Alex Sink announced Tuesday that she would not run again against U.S. Rep. David Jolly, R-Fla.,who who defeated her in a special congressional election last month.

"While I am not running for office in 2014, I will keep an open dialogue with all of you and continue to seek new ways to serve," Sink insisted.

An economist serving on a second-term president's Council of Economic Advisers might expect to weigh in on fundamental issues, restructuring the tax system or making entitlement programs sustainable over the long term. Barack Obama once talked of addressing such issues, and Republican leaders such as House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp are doing so.