This has the potential to be far too much fun.
Here's a name I've not heard linked with presidential aspirations before: former Idaho governor and senator Dirk Kempthorne.
Republicans familiar with his activities say that Kempthorne has begun to reach out to allies gauge their opinion about whether he should run for President in 2012.
Greg Casey, the CEO of the Business and Industry Political Action Committee, has known Kempthorne for 30 years . If Kempthorne were talking to anyone, it would be Casey, who wouldn't quite bite when I asked him whether his friend had national ambitions.
"This is an immensely capable guy. I've never seen anyone who has connected with people then.He's always been able to work in a bipartisan fashion," Casey said. "I do know that Dirk is very pleased and happy to be looking in the private sector for a while. I think Dirk right now is enjoying his time with his family."
Is he thinking about a presidential run?
"... if he isn't, then someone will think about it for him. People just gravitate to him," Casey said.
Yes, Dirk Kempthorne of the $235,000 office bathroom fame, and the guy who subjected Interior department employees to a 600-slide "homage to himself" in his farewell speech. Yes, 600 slides featuring pictures of Dirk.
Those of us who've followed Kempthorne's career since he was mayor of Boise didn't find those stories shocking. Kempthorne is all about aggrandizing Kempthorne. From his first appearance in public life, my Dad dubbed him "that oily coyote," and Kempthorne has lived up to it so far. Imagine Bush's lack of curiosity, Palin's vacuousness and knack for self-promotion, and Romney's perfect hair all rolled up into one, and you get Kempthorne. He's been blessed to have come up in Idaho politics, where few have every really challenged his "record of achievement," but he's pretty much slid by. As one Idaho blogger puts it, his main achievement has been that he's "he has managed to be a shallow, incompetent, narcissistic phony at almost every level of government- Mayor, Governor, Senator and Secretary of the Interior."
Given what we've seen with Bush's and Palin's ability to captivate wingnuts, Kempthorne might just be the answer for the Republicans. He's as empty a suit as they could possibly hope for. There is that whole little family values question surrounding him, but that's hardly stopped Republicans before. But I really hope he keeps testing those waters. It's going to be even more fun for Idaho bloggers than wide-stance jokes.