Are we supposed to believe that Blunt was going to challenge Bond in a primary?

Before Roy Blunt told Roll Call that he stepped down as Whip with his tail between his legs because he wanted Kit Bond's Senate seat, did he do the math on when Bond actually decided to retire?  At the time of the announcement, "even some of [Bond's] closest supporters" were surprised by the decision -- including Roy Blunt.

So does that mean that Blunt was planning to challenge Bond in the 2010 primary?  Here is the new and improved timeline put forward by Blunt in this morning's article:

• November 6, 2008. Roy Blunt steps down as Minority Whip in a "carefully calculated" gambit to seek "a bigger prize: a seat in the Senate."
• January 9, 2009. Kit Bond announces he won't seek re-election.
• February 19, 2009. Blunt announces his candidacy for US Senate. States that "seven weeks ago, the furthest thing from my mind was running for the Senate." Observe:

Obviously, it's a little tough to to reconcile that Blunt's previous statements with his new explanation to Roll Call: 

In an interview last week, Blunt said his decision not to run for Minority Whip was driven by the prospect of running to succeed retiring Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.).

“Yes,” Blunt said, after some hesitation, when asked if running for the Senate seat was his motivator. “If you’re doing what you’ve agreed to do as a leader, you’re really restricted in whatever your future options are. That had a lot of impact on my decision.”

Bond didn’t announce his 2010 retirement plans until early January, but Blunt said he sensed the possibility in November, and wasn’t about to miss the opportunity by sticking around in House leadership.

The idea that Blunt was planning to challenge Bond in a primary is incredibly hard to believe, but I guess it's possible.  Either way, Blunt was fibbing in February or he's fibbing now about his intentions.

Sadly, that Blunt is/was fibbing is remarkably easy to believe.