Politico pimps John Thune as potential GOP presidential contender

This is the first time I've heard anyone talk about Sen. Thune's presidential prospects:

With resurgent Republicans growing increasingly confident that President Barack Obama may yet be a political mortal in 2012, a new name is emerging as a potential presidential contender: South Dakota Sen. John Thune.

For those in the GOP who aren’t giddy about a second Mitt Romney run and aren’t sold on the viability of Tim Pawlenty, Thune represents a mainstream conservative alternative.

Tall, handsome, not yet 50 and with the sort of sunny demeanor that winning national Republicans usually possess, the former high school hoops star looks the part.

Sounds dreamy. But is he experienced enough? Does it matter?

But when pressed on the matter of Thune’s record, some of his backers effectively conceded the point by privately noting that the current occupant of the White House didn’t exactly run on a lot of experience.

“To a certain extent, he’s our version of Obama — the tall, lanky, good-looking, well-spoken senator” is how a former top party official put it.

Does "the man who beat Tom Daschle" really stand a chance? If he keeps his nose clean and tows the conservative line, why not? He could be a good candidate for the GOP.

Census projections, impact on congressional apportionment

Great article in the NYT about what we may be looking at in the aftermath of the 2010 census. It looks like the recession has slowed the flow of people to the West and the South, but the West and South are still going to be the primary beneficiaries of reapportionment. In states like Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, North Carolina this could be a boon for the GOP in presidential politics. In fact, the only reliable blue state that is expected to gain seats in Congress is Washington state. However, as the article speculates, there is a chance that the indivuals moving into these reliable red states may actually be more liberal because they are largely migrating from the Midwest and Northeast. So really the whole thing could be a wash.

Sen. Corker for President in 2012? Not if he's smart.

News media has started flirting with Sen. Corker over 2012:

A little over a week ago a news organization finally asked Sen. Bob Corker straight up what many had been wondering: Are you thinking about running for President in 2012? As is oft the case with these things, the denial was vague with plenty of wiggle-room. His office is not working on it. His wife would be surprised if he ran — and so on.

A blanket denial? Not even close. What politician doesn't want his name mentioned as a potential presidential candidate? Corker's star has been on the rise since he bucked his own party and spoke out against the Bush stimulus. It kept on shining through the financial crisis and continues to beam even during the current health care reform debate. It is only natural that the man gets a bit of presidential campaign chatter.

I don't think that Corker is going to decide to run, for a couple of reasons. First, his term expires in 2013, so if he runs for president in 2012 he would have to give up his Senate seat. He'd be much more safer if he ran in 2016. He'd only be 64 or 65 years old - young enough to still run.

Secondly, while Corker has certainly made a name for himself, it doesn't really register with the GOP base as much as Palin, Romney, Huckabee, and Pawlenty's do. Corker also lacks the charisma and broad appeal that then-Sen. Barack Obama had during his first years in the Senate and during the campaign.

If Corker wants to run, he'd be smart to stay in the Senate until 2016. Throw some more red meat to the base, speak out against Obama, etc. Come 2016, Corker will be embraced by his conservative brethren with open arms.

Cheney in 2012? God help us

Apparently some people actually think that Cheney would be a good GOP candidate for president in 2012.

At first, it seemed like a joke. Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto opined on Monday that -- if the 2012 election were to turn to national security -- "it's hard to think of a better candidate... than Richard B. Cheney."

But while his headline -- "Cheney for President" -- provoked guffaws in some quarters, several of the party's most well-regarded strategists and pollsters are actually taking the idea deadly seriously.

"The Republican Party needs to move forward and build on its past, not return to it," Alex Castellanos, a frequent CNN analyst and GOP messaging guru, told the Huffington Post via email. "But if the agenda turns to security, Obama is mired in a no-win mess in Afghanistan, and the Obama administration hasn't created a single job in four years after indebting the nation for generations, maybe Dick Cheney could run on a theme of 'Change'." . . .

Longtime pollster and GOP operative John McLaughlin also said he sees an opening for a Cheney candidacy premised on a hypothetical national security failure from the current White House.

A Cheney nomination "would be a serious consideration because he really has been a defender of policies that the majority of people now think are successful," McLaughlin told the Huffington Post. "Although right now a lot of people are focused on the economy, if there ever was some sort of foreign policy crisis people will look to Dick Cheney and say he had it right."

Yeah. I'm sure that people are pining for the days of the Bush administration. *roll eyes*