It seems as likely as anything in politics can be that the Democratic candidate for president in 2012 will be President Obama, seeking re-election to a second term. But who will the Republicans put up to oppose him? It may seem a little early to be worrying about that, but you can bet that that is already the question on a lot of the nation's best political minds.

And already there are a number of names in the hat. For a party out of national power, governorships are the logical place to turn, and, happily, a number of them are available for consideration by the GOP.

One, certainly, is Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota. Elected in 2002 and now in his second term, he is 48 years old and previously served as majority leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He probably deserves to be listed as a moderate among possible Republican presidential nominees.

Then there is Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, who, at 37, is also in his second term as the state's chief executive. He is somewhat more conservative than Pawlenty -- not surprisingly, in view of his Southern roots -- but not overwhelmingly so.

Another possible source of presidential candidates is, of course, the Congress, and the current one doesn't lack for possibilities. Still on the Republican side, one name often mentioned is that of Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, At 57 and serving his first term in the Senate after six years in the House, he is an outspoken conservative, rated at 100 by the American Conservative Union in 2006. Continued...