Before you all jump on me for "not appreciating the moment," let me briefly explain my mentality here.
Many of you are sports fans like myself, some of you are lucky enough to have supported teams that have won it all, like myself.
You will then understand, after celebrating the championship, that the next thing that pops into your head after a hotly contested run is "Can we repeat next year??"
So just look at this as a fantasy-politics/analysis type of diary. These are my analyses, and I expect them to be wrong, so please humor me and share your thoughts if you want to play along.
So, the next presidential election is in 2012. Who will the GOP most likely trot out? My guesses, in order of likeliness in 2012. I really don't know what to think of 2016 yet, but I'm assuming the field stays the same (with a few names dropping out in 2016 like Romney, Huck, Giulani).
REPUBLICANS (2012/2016)
Bobby Jindal - The "GOP's Barack Obama," only in the sense that there is a growing hype around this guy, my guess is he comes out from behind the pack in 2012 and takes the nom, like Barack did to the dems this year.
Sarah Palin - She can fundraise, she is now known, and she rallies the base. It's frightening, but this is entirely possible.
Mitt Romney - He will probably start out as the front-runner along with Mike Huckabee, but I think he fades fast.
Charlie Crist - He's got FL. If he doesn't win the nom, I see him as the veep pick.
Mike Huckabee - Last time he won Iowa, I don't think he wins Iowa next time out. But I see him as another VP pick.
Other Dark Horses: Tim Pawlenty, Rudy Giulani, Gen. Petraeus
DEMOCRATS (2016)
I would like to say Obama should win 2012, but I won't for two reasons: (1) I think we all agree that his first term absolutely must not be as disastrous as Bush's first term was. Obviously, the likeliness of this happening is almost nil since Obama actually has brains... (2) I don't want to jinx it.
The only possible change I see though is Biden stepping down as veep due to age?? (though 70 is really not that old especially if you're "just the VP"). In that case, I see Hillary or Kaine or even Howard Dean as Obama's running mate.
But what about 2016? Granted I know little about the Dem roster as well, but here's my shot at it.
Mark Warner - Popular VA governor/senator. I'd say he has a better shot at it than Tim Kaine, but Kaine is also a possibility. Anyway, Warner just seems like he was made for the presidency, but I'm biased because I live around the VA area.
Tim Kaine - See bias above. Would help if Obama picked him to be part of his cabinet.
Hillary Clinton - Yes, I know she'll be pushing 70. But hey, McCain was pushing 72. The Clintons have name recognition, and she's still got a lot of supporters left over from this year. Personally she just seems like the type to keep fighting even at that age. I don't think she goes away that easy.
Howard Dean - Why not? There's the age issue as well (he'll be 68), but again, if McCain can do it, Dean can too. Plus, who better to keep the netroots community going after Obama's run?
Michelle Obama - FOUR MORE YEARS! FOUR MORE YEARS! Of Barack does unbelievably well, she can run on the platform of "I'm just here because Barack can't constitionally run for prez again, but you all know who'll be calling the shots. He's our American Vladimir Putin." (If it's not obvious here, this is snark.)
I really have no clue other than that. Dark Horses: Sebelius? McKaskill? Napolitano?
So anyway, that's it for my fantasy politics diary. Hope you play along with me, but remember this is all in fun.