Thank you. The oil level doesn't seem to be too high. I just changed the oil a month ago. I've been having problems getting it to crank up this year. The original priming bulb dry rotted so I replaced it with a "Universal" one from Lowes. It never seemed to work very good - like it never had a good seal. The other day I was mowing and it just sputtered and stopped like it ran out of gas - except it had 1/2 a tank. Rather than going out and buying a new one I decided to take a gamble and try replacing the carburetor, the air filter and the spark plug. $40 vs a new mower.
Apparently the gamble didn't pay off. So new mower it is.
Thanks for your response.