This is news?

Political wire:

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's (R) chief of staff, Beth Myers, is "leaving state employment to serve as director of the Commonwealth PAC, the committee Romney is using to support his travel and to fund state candidates as he weighs a run for president in 2008," reports the AP.

The shuffle comes as the governor "ramps up" his out-of-state travel, including stops in Iowa on Thursday and Michigan on Friday.

Yawn. Oh, and buh-bye, Mitt. We'll hardly notice you're gone.

Yesterday, after a tour with Sen. Trent Lott of hurricane-ravaged sections of Mississippi - one of three out-of-state trips on his itinerary this week - Romney told a reporter, “You don’t keep your options open by just staying home,” according to the Associated Press.

The comment drew fire from Democrats, who say he has plenty to do in the Bay State.

“Gov. Romney should absolutely visit storm-ravaged areas so he can see the devastating effects Mother Nature’s wrath has had on communities,” said state Democratic Party spokeswoman Cyndi Roy. “But he ought to start with Greenfield or Pittsfield or Peabody or Winchester where floods last spring ravaged those areas.”