Our much-beleaguered governor, Kirk Fordice, poured his heart out Wednesday and in doing so, admitted that his heart isn’t in the governor’s office anymore.

With less than five months left in his second and final term, Fordice has been beaten up by the media and by public opinion. Often he has no one to blame but himself ? or, more precisely, his mouth.

From his crude behavior after a nosy TV reporter exposed Fordice and his junior high school sweetheart returning from a trip together this spring to more recent questions about his use of the state jet for personal use, it appears Fordice is going out of office in typical Fordice style ? amid controversy.

On Wednesday, Fordice outlined his thoughts about his recent woes.

And Mississippi’s first Republican governor in 118 years spelled out exactly what motivated him ? partisan politics.

If political ground wasn’t at stake, Fordice said he’d have headed into retirement months ago.

“If I hadn’t been preventing Ronnie Musgrove (the Democratic gubernatorial candidate), who in my estimation is an arch liberal, anti-business and very bad for the state, from being the incumbent in this race, I’d have been out of here six months ago,” he said.

Maybe Gov. Fordice should reconsider his thinking on the matter.

If he’s only staying in office to block a political opponent from gaining the upper hand, maybe either he or the Republican party could happily refund Fordice’s salary, living expenses and other costs.