So far as we know, Denny Schaffer with WGKA (920AM) – a conservative talk radio station based in Buckhead — landed the only one-on-one interview with Ralph Reed following his Wednesday decision to skip a run for Congress.

Reed said he was confident he could have run a “very competitive race” to replace U.S. Rep. John Linder, but he would have been forced to put his new organization, the Faith and Freedom Coalition, in storage. Said Reed:

“I realized that I couldn’t do both. I had to decide. I was either going to help put 50 to 100 people like me in the U.S. Senate, Congress and state houses, or I was going to spend the next eight or nine months focusing solely on me. I ultimately decided the country was more important than me having a congressional seat.”

On what might have been:

“It would be pretty exciting if I could be part of a freshman class that was back in the majority in the House. Had I done that, and had I won, I think I could have been an impact player in Congress.”

And on the temptation to engage in new enterprises:

“The Bible says if you put your hand to the plow, and then you take your eye off the task at hand, you will plow uneven furrows. And I believe my hand is on the plow of building Faith and Freedom Coalition. And you can’t get distracted, even by great opportunities. Remember, the enemy doesn’t come to you with bad ideas. It always looks good.”