Sen. John Thune's name keeps getting tossed around more and more as a 2012 dark horse candidate. The senator himself insists he's focusing only on his 2010 reeelection campaign but in a recent conference call with reporters refused to make a Shermanesque statement ruling anything out.

In the National Journal's recent poll of political insiders, Thune was ranked second only to Mitt Romney by Democrats and third behind Romney and Tim Pawlenty by Republicans as the most likely 2012 presidential nominee. His victory was seen as more likely than big names like Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee and Bobby Jindal.

One Democratic political insider: "Don't think he'll be the nominee, but he is by far the scariest Republican of all: smart, hard-right but smooth edges, movie-star looks, great on TV. Yikes!"

Advertisement

And now Politico writes up the GOP speculation about Thune in 2012:

“No one seems particularly excited about the current prospective field,” said GOP strategist Mark McKinnon. “And everyone loves Thune.”

The Politico article notes that by March, if Thune doesn't yet have an opponent, he may start campaigning around the country for other Republicans — building up the goodwill that's crucial to getting endorsements in a national run.