Bill Kristol: John Thune "rethinking" launching presidential bid
Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, said Republican Sen. John Thune may be "rethinking" entering the 2012 presidential race.
In an interview with C-SPAN's Steve Scully on Monday, Kristol said he thought it was unusual there were no senators currently in the race - and that Thune might throw his hat into the ring if a strong leader didn't emerge.
"What I've heard is the following: I think Thune is rethinking a little bit, he was sort of the more, I'd say the more establishment favorite of the senators," he told Scully.
When pressed on the matter, Kristol continued: "Yeah, that's what I've been told... I think a lot this depends on whether there's a huge vacuum. If Romney seems to fall through a little; if Pawlenty doesn't take off, if neither Perry nor Bachmann seems like they're getting majority support, there will be a big vacuum in September and I think someone could get in."
Thune, a second-term Republican senator from South Dakota, announced his decision not to seek the GOP presidential nomination in February.
"There is a battle to be waged over what kind of country we are going to leave our children and grandchildren and that battle is happening now in Washington, not two years from now," Thune said at the time, of his decision. "So at this time, I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America's future here in the trenches of the United States Senate."
Thune became rose to political fame when he won the seat of then-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004. While considering a presidential bid, he came in contact with potential supporters and donors, but did not develop the sort of national political organization that contenders Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty established early on.
