While names like Palin, Romney and Huckabee get most of the attention when it comes to 2012 presidential speculation, a dark horse may be rising out of the Great Plains. South Dakota Sen. John Thune has $5.5 million in the bank, a handsome face, hoop skills that rival the president's and an upward trajectory in the U.S. Senate. Despite failing at a 2008 bid to head the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Thune was able to take control of the Republican Policy Committee after Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) fell from grace. Get the new PD toolbar!
He's not widely known nationally, which is both an obvious obstacle and perhaps a blessing in disguise: The national media has not turned him into a caricature. That may change in the future. Thune is beginning to generate buzz as a potential 2012 presidential candidate. For example, New York Times columnist David Brooks recently wrote a glowing puff piece on him, going so far as to say of Thune, "He is a gracious and ecumenical legislator, not a combative one. When you ask him to mention authors he likes, he mentions C.S. Lewis and Jeff Shaara, not political polemicists. The first person who told me I had to write a column about Thune was a liberal Democratic senator who really likes the guy." To be sure, grace and wit -- not to mention legislative experience and intelligence -- will be an important commodity for any Republican seeking to deny President Obama a second term. The rub against Thune has always been that he's too boring to be elected president. Denizens of the upper Midwest are rarely known for their fiery emotions or natural charisma, so it's not surprising that Thune has a reputation for being a bit dry. On a conference call this Tuesday, however, I found Thune to be passionate -- and quotable. For example, he dismissed the notion that Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine might vote for health care reform, bluntly telling me he expects Republicans "will be united in opposition" to the Senate health care bill. "This will be and is a Democrat bill," he predicted. Thune then went on to compare the Obama administration's regulatory and climate change policies to "a war on the West." The ability to throw that sort of red meat is important in a GOP primary, and over the last few weeks, a fan club has developed for Thune on Twitter. Some of the excitement about him seems tied to his being upfront on the issues, but as one Senate staffer tells me, "It also has to do with his looks." One of the main cheerleaders is a Missouri activist....
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