GOP LOOK TO GOVERNORS - AT 9:09 P.M. ET:  Superb political reporter Dan Balz, of the Washington Post, puts the spotlight on Republican governors as the presidential future of the party.  Republicans have had success in electing governors to the White House - Reagan and Bush 43 come to mind.  The last time a Republican was elected president directly from Congress was Warren Harding, in 1920.  That should be a hint:

The ranks of the Republican governors and former governors include savvy older pros, some celebrities, the biggest crop of prospective 2012 presidential candidates, bright young leaders on the rise and the possibility of enhancements to their ranks after the 2010 midterm elections that will draw even more attention to their work in the states.

And...

Haley Barbour is the one thread of continuity between the Republicans' restoration of 1994 and their comeback hopes in 2010. Then he was chairman of the Republican National Committee; today he is in his second term as governor of Mississippi and is chairman of the Republican Governors Association...

...The other older pro is Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He is the northern wing of the axis of experience the Republicans have within the gubernatorial ranks. Like Barbour, he is a former White House political director. Like Barbour, he is well-grounded in policy, having served as budget director in President George W. Bush's White House.

And the young ones coming up:

If Barbour and Daniels form the ranks of old pros, there are young pros rising within the ranks. The youngest is Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who has been on a fast track all his adult life....

...Farther north is Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is finishing his second term as governor while still in his late 40s. He is a conservative from a blue-collar family and narrowly won two tough elections in a state partial to Democrats. He has his eyes on a run for president in 2012.

There is the lady in red:

Former Republican governors retain national followings. One needs to look no further than the New York Times best-seller list to be reminded of that. Sarah Palin tops the list with her book, "Going Rogue," and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is on the list with his book, "A Simple Christmas." In March, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will test his book-selling skills with "No Apology: The Case for American Greatness."

There are newcomers, and one could occupy the bottom half of a 2012 ticket:

By this time next year, Republicans may have new governors in some of the nation's biggest states. GOP leaders are bullish about the prospects of state attorney general Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, where Democratic Gov. Ed Rendell is term-limited. They see John Kasich, the former chairman of the House Budget Committee, as a threat to Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in Ohio. In California, Republicans have a three-way primary underway with the winner likely to face Edmund G. "Jerry" Brown, the former governor and current attorney general, in November. Former eBay chairman Meg Whitman is the best known among the GOP contenders and a potential national figure if she gets elected.

All of these are reasons Republicans will be looking to the states as they continue rebuilding.

COMMENT:  The Republican Party has the talent.  But it's 20 political lifetimes between now and the 2012 race.  It's even too early for wild speculation.  The key point, as Karl Rove has pointed out, is to work on 2010.  Victory in 2010 will be the platform on which the 2012 campaign will be built.  If the GOP blows 2010, who will come to the altar in 2012?

December 13, 2009