If Republicans win back the House, Sen. Richard Lugar (R., Ind.) worries that GOP leaders on the Hill will “probably not” be able to cultivate the “sort of negotiations that occurred between Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton” in the 1990s. “Who is going to be our Newt?” he asks.

Lugar sees a couple of possibilities. The senator points to Rep. Paul Ryan, the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, as a future House leader. “I’m not acquainted with all of his work, but I’m acquainted with the fact that he has been offering, courageously, some very important ideas that get to the heart of the entitlement programs as well as the aggregate spending,” he says.

Besides Ryan, who else? Perhaps, Lugar says, Rep. Mike Pence, a fellow Indiana Republican. “Mike has the creativity, and he’s the sort of person who is articulate,” he says. “Once he gets an idea, being able to advocate it well. So maybe Mike is the guy.”

But when it comes to the 2012 presidential race, Lugar has a clear favorite: Gov. Mitch Daniels, another Hoosier. “I hope he will strongly consider it,” Lugar says. “I’m not going to support anybody else until I know what Mitch is going to do. If he runs, I will support him.”