Some of the buzz down at the RGA conference was about who, if anybody, may yet get into the ‘08 WH mix on the GOP side. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has taken himself out of the running. Texas Gov. Rick Perry also is unlikely to make a bid. But there’s got to be somebody else out there that were just not thinking about, right?
Bob Novak, who else, thinks he may know. Try former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating, a solid conservative and, as Novak puts it in his weekend notes column, a “prominent Catholic layman.”
Besides facing enormous fund-raising challenges, however, Keating would probably also not be aided by his current job. He’s the top lobbyist for the chief life insurance trade group in Washington – not exactly the best springboard to higher office these days. We wonder if Ed Rollins made that point over lunch.