Two weeks after narrowly losing his bid for Congress, Republican Hazleton Mayor Lou Barletta says he's not even thinking about whether or not he'll try again-yet.

"I haven't given that any thought at all right now," he told PolitickerPA.com in a phone interview Wednesday. "I'm going to just sit back and take a little time at all to reflect and then relax after a hard-fought campaign."

Barletta, who ran against longtime incumbent U.S. Rep Paul Kanjorski in the 11th Congressional District, lost by only 4 points on Election Day. Both internal and independent polling had showed him leading Kanjorski throughout the campaign, and Republicans saw his candidacy as their best hope for picking up a seat in Congress. Kanjorski was widely considered to be the most vulnerable Democrat in Congress.

In the end, Barletta came closer than any Republican challenger in the country came to unseating a Democratic incumbent without getting over the hump. He has blamed the loss on massive turnout for President-elect Barack Obama, and new voters certainly came out in force to vote straight Democratic.

"I wasn't beaten by Paul Kanjorski, but by Barack Obama," Barletta said. "That made the difference.

"From a campaign aspect I admired that type of organization they had," he added of the Obama campaign. "Unfortunately, I was a victim of it, but it was still an experience I won't forget."

Even though this was Barletta's second loss to Kanjorski-he was defeated more handily in 2002-there would certainly be reason for him to try again. This fall was the most politically toxic climate for the GOP since right after Watergate, and with Democrats set to control both the White House and Congress, 2010 will almost definitely be an easier year for Republicans. Conventional wisdom would be that Kanjorski's approval ratings will slip simply because of his incumbency and even independent of his legislative performance. He will be sworn into a 13th term next year and some question if he would even run again.

Barletta said the close outcome of the race and the base of donor support he has built up would make another run possible, though he said it was too early to tell.

"I don't think I've hurt myself at all politically in this campaign so I would not rule out in the future running for another office," he said.

"It has to be something that I feel strongly about," he added.