Here's a name I've not heard linked with presidential aspirations before: former Idaho governor and senator Dirk Kempthorne.
Republicans familiar with his activities say that Kempthorne has begun to reach out to allies gauge their opinion about whether he should run for President in 2012.
Greg Casey, the CEO of the Business and Industry Political Action Committee, has known Kempthorne for 30 years . If Kempthorne were talking to anyone, it would be Casey, who wouldn't quite bite when I asked him whether his friend had national ambitions.
"This is an immensely capable guy. I've never seen anyone who has connected with people then.He's always been able to work in a bipartisan fashion," Casey said. "I do know that Dirk is very pleased and happy to be looking in the private sector for a while. I think Dirk right now is enjoying his time with his family."
Is he thinking about a presidential run?
"... if he isn't, then someone will think about it for him. People just gravitate to him," Casey said.
Kempthorne, who served as President Bush's final Secretary of the Interior, is widely known to environmental advocates as a dedicated opponent of regulation and of the Endangered Species Act. His tenture at Interior was pockmarked by scandals -- all gifts from his predecessors. But he was also a fan of the National Park System and convinced the administration to prioritize its expansion. In his farewell address, he took credit for tough new ethics rules. During his one term as a senator, his bill to quash unfunded federal mandates for local governments is now law. Californians and Oregonians credit him for breaking the longstanding impasse over damming the Klamath River. In Idaho, he took the sleepy and rundown city of Boise and rebuilt it. But his public profile is no higher than that although the American Indian community presumably knows him well from his Interior service. Kempthorne began his political career as a consultant and campaign manager. He's a fiscal and social conservative with no deviations from the orthodoxy. As a former chairman of the National Governors' Association and because of his dealings with oil, coal and natural resource enterprises, he could probably raise enough seed money to get started.
I couldn't reach Kempthorne for comment.
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