My name is Marco and I'm running for stepping stone.

[Bull Moose Base]

The majority of candidates for president are likely to have announced by February next year.  How conceivable is it for a candidate to win their first major statewide race in November, swear in in January, then announce a presidential campaign about a month later.  Marco Rubio, Meg Whitman, Kelly Ayotte, Pat Toomey?  I'd say very unlikely but I wouldn't rule it out.  Rubio strikes me as the most (albeit still not) likely to try such a move.

Jerry Brown, Whitman's opponent in California, was first elected governor of California in 1974 and ran for president in 1976.   (Though he entered the race in March 1976 after some primaries already happened which seems like an extinct move.)  I think Whitman is unlikely to win her gubernatorial race but it wouldn't be so shocking and she's even less likely to win a GOP presidential primary because of her pro-choice views but could try anyway.

The 2008 race maybe paved the way with Obama a presidential candidate only 2 years after entering the Senate and Palin a Vice-Presidential candidate after serving less than 2 years as governor.  Of course, even 1 or 2 years is a vastly different case than saying I've been a Senator for the last 3 weeks and have decided I'm ready to be Commander-in-Chief.

Oddly, I'd say Jindal who was sworn in as governor in 2008 is less likely than the 2010 candidates since he'd have to campaign  for his 2011 gubernatorial race while everyone else is in Iowa and New Hampshire.  For some inexplicable reason, that seems harder than running for two offices simultaneously as Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman did.

[You kip if you want to...]

The majority of candidates for president are likely to have announced by February next year.  How conceivable is it for a candidate to win their first major statewide race in November, swear in in January, then announce a presidential campaign about a month later.  Marco Rubio, Meg Whitman, Kelly Ayotte, Pat Toomey?  I'd say very unlikely but I wouldn't rule it out.  Rubio strikes me as the most (albeit still not) likely to try such a move.

Jerry Brown, Whitman's opponent in California, was first elected governor of California in 1974 and ran for president in 1976.   (Though he entered the race in March 1976 after some primaries already happened which seems like an extinct move.)  I think Whitman is unlikely to win her gubernatorial race but it wouldn't be so shocking and she's even less likely to win a GOP presidential primary because of her pro-choice views but could try anyway.

The 2008 race maybe paved the way with Obama a presidential candidate only 2 years after entering the Senate and Palin a Vice-Presidential candidate after serving less than 2 years as governor.  Of course, even 1 or 2 years is a vastly different case than saying I've been a Senator for the last 3 weeks and have decided I'm ready to be Commander-in-Chief.

Oddly, I'd say Jindal who was sworn in as governor in 2008 is the least likely since he'd have to campaign  for his 2011 gubernatorial race while everyone else is in Iowa and New Hampshire.  For some inexplicable reason, that seems harder than running for two offices simultaneously as Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman did.

To be fair, Biden and Lieberman would've hardly struggled with their re-election bids in 2008 or 2000.

[Bull Moose Base]

The majority of candidates for president are likely to have announced by February next year.  How conceivable is it for a candidate to win their first major statewide race in November, swear in in January, then announce a presidential campaign about a month later.  Marco Rubio, Meg Whitman, Kelly Ayotte, Pat Toomey?  I'd say very unlikely but I wouldn't rule it out.  Rubio strikes me as the most (albeit still not) likely to try such a move.

Jerry Brown, Whitman's opponent in California, was first elected governor of California in 1974 and ran for president in 1976.   (Though he entered the race in March 1976 after some primaries already happened which seems like an extinct move.)  I think Whitman is unlikely to win her gubernatorial race but it wouldn't be so shocking and she's even less likely to win a GOP presidential primary because of her pro-choice views but could try anyway.

The 2008 race maybe paved the way with Obama a presidential candidate only 2 years after entering the Senate and Palin a Vice-Presidential candidate after serving less than 2 years as governor.  Of course, even 1 or 2 years is a vastly different case than saying I've been a Senator for the last 3 weeks and have decided I'm ready to be Commander-in-Chief.

Oddly, I'd say Jindal who was sworn in as governor in 2008 is the least likely since he'd have to campaign  for his 2011 gubernatorial race while everyone else is in Iowa and New Hampshire.  For some inexplicable reason, that seems harder than running for two offices simultaneously as Joe Biden and Joe Lieberman did.

To be fair, Biden and Lieberman would've hardly struggled with their re-election bids in 2008 or 2000.

Same might be said of Jindal.  Of course, being tapped for VP is different.  It just seems way stickier to be on the ballot for governor while you're spending so much time out of state running for another job.  I'd call Jindal one of the least likely Republicans to run in 2012.

[The Mikado]

Rubio's the only real possibility on that front, and I don't even think he'd do it.