“You want to be appointed anything? How about the Public Service Commission? That pays 95K!”

And time is short to reply,  Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder added. “I’ve only got until tomorrow.”

Kinder, a Republican, was making the appointment offers in jest, as he waited in Tuesday morning’s line to file for re-election.

Since Friday, and until Wednesday afternoon, he’s Missouri’s acting governor while Gov. Matt Blunt is out of town attending a meeting of the National Governors Association.

Kinder has openly coveted the top job, but dropped out of contention earlier this month in order to promote party unity, he said. Kinder’s departure leaves U.S. Rep. Kenny Hulshof and state Treasurer Sarah Steelman as the two best-known announced candidates to replace Blunt, who has decided against seeking re-election.

Kinder said today that he’d made his decision to drop out the day before he announced his intentions to hundreds of Republicans attending the party’s Lincoln Days festivities held this month in Springfield, Mo.

Kinder’s address at the opening banquet marked his only visible presence at Lincoln Days. The next day, he sent out a You-Tube video detailing his reasons for dropping his gubernatorial bid. The video showed Kinder sitting in what appeared to be a book-lined office, with yours truly speculating that it might have been filmed in his Jefferson City office.

But Kinder said today that he was actually in a studio in Springfield, swiftly arranged by John Thompson, a prominent Republican consultant. The spot was produced Saturday morning, Kinder said.

Kinder said he skipped the rest of Lincoln Days because he had a longstanding commitment on Saturday afternoon, and because he’d already made news with his banquet speech.