I've been wondering not who the Democrats will nominate for President in 2008 but who they should nominate. A disporpotionate number of presidents are ex-governors, so I visited this list of Democratic governors.

Two stand out to me as having potential heavy red state appeal. Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas has attracted many supporters in Kansas of "What's The Matter With Kansas". Janet Napolitano is from Arizona, which has many top entries on the list of the most conservative cities in America. She already has one blogger supporting her for President:

But in Arizona we have a heavily populated Western state, one that has traditionally been very Republican, with a governor who is so popular after one term that the Republicans can't field a credible challenger. So why isn't there a boomlet for the presidential prospects of Governor Janet Napolitano? She's a proven winner in a large, diverse, inland Western state -- and she's about to cruise to reelection. She's described by the conservative Arizona Republic as "centrist," "pragmatic" and "popular." Do you have to be married to an ex-president to be taken seriously as a possible presidential candidate?

Seriously, I can't imagine that if Napolitano were a man, we wouldn't be hearing her name as one of the top possible candidates in 2008, and with good reason given her electoral record.

In fact, Napolitano is so popular in Arizona that the Republicans are thinking about going all Alan Keyes on her, running former second lady Marilyn Quayle of Indiana to prove that Republicans have white female candidates too. OK, the Quayles live in Arizona now. But Marilyn Quayle is not an established Arizona figure and her possible candidacy seems to be motivated mostly by the fear that without her the Arizona GOP might run disgraced former Governor Fife Symington by default.