Politico raves about the way Republicans are recruiting their Senate candidates…

In the recruiting battle for 2012 Senate candidates, Republicans are winning by a landslide. Just three months into the election cycle, the GOP has locked down heavyweight candidates in seven key Senate races, with top contenders seriously thinking about running in two others.Democrats, on the other hand, are still without a major candidate in Massachusetts and Nevada — two states that present the best opportunities to pick up a seat. And there’s no official word yet on whether Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine will run in a third key race — the open Senate seat in Virginia.
Among the top GOP gets to date: Attorney General Jon Bruning in Nebraska, former state treasurer Sarah Steelman in Missouri, former Sen. George Allen in Virginia, Rep. Denny Rehberg in Montana, former Rep. Heather Wilson in New Mexico, Rep. Jeff Flake in Arizona and Rep. Dean Heller in Nevada.

I wonder how they would classify Josh Mandel, who’s apparently gearing up to take on Sherrod Brown in Ohio.

Mandel is young (and looks extremely young) but he’s already been elected statewide with 54.5 percent of the vote (his incumbent Democrat rival only won 40.5 percent) and is a U.S. Marines intelligence specialist who has served two tours in Iraq.