David Brooks's column today...

...is must-reading, as usual. It's about John Thune, the junior senator from South Dakota. Brooks mentions him as a possible Republican candidate for president in 2012. This isn't the first time I've heard Thune's name mentioned by "the Great Mentioner," the term William Safire coined, but it's the first case for him that I've read so far (and not a terribly convincing one). But Thune is worth considering if only because we don't yet know the name of the next GOP standard-bearer. (I once heard Morton Kondracke describe Thune as an "empty suit," but that was years ago.)

I just can't see any of the current crop--Romney, Huckabee, Palin, or Pawlenty--making the grade. I could still see Newt Gingrich as a dark horse; he has certain qualities--a brilliant mind and political savvy to name just two--that can't be dismissed. But the field remains wide open.

Two other points about Brooks's article deserve mention. He quotes John McCain as joking that if he had Thune's face he'd be president right now. (I hope McCain was joking. It also takes solid policy positions, a demonstrated capacity for leadership, and good judgement, all of which McCain sorely lacked.)

Brooks also mentions Karl Rove's piece in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday in which he said that Obama is being defined as a liberal, independents are fleeing, and the political tide is shifting. This is just the kind of overly optimistic cheerleading that the Republican Party doesn't need right now. What they need is a good dose of realism and they're not likely to find it from people like Rove (or in The Wall Street Journal). Rove is the same guy who drove the GOP into the ditch. Why on earth would anybody listen to him?

I think Brooks sees it more clearly when he says:

That overstates things. Obama remains the most talented political figure of the age. After health care passes, he will pivot and pick some fights with his own party over spending. He’ll solidify his standing with independents, and if the economy recovers, he could go into his re-election with as much momentum as Ronald Reagan enjoyed in 1984.