Not sure if you're too familiar with Dirk Kempthorne, but he's a former Governor and Senator from Idaho, as well as U.S. Secretary of the Interior under President George W. Bush.
To top that off, back in January, Marc Ambinder heard birds tweeting that Kempthorne was reaching out to friends to gauge interest in a 2012 bid.
You can read the GOP12 Dirk Kempthorne profile here, but here's his reflection on Kennedy from today's Idaho Statesman:
Kempthorne got to know Kennedy when they shared a balcony overlooking the Capitol. After Kempthorne arrived, Kennedy introduced himself to every staffer and sent Kempthorne's wife, Patricia, a bouquet with a note, "Welcome to the neighborhood."
.... When Kennedy gave a talk at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, he invited Kempthorne - by then U.S. secretary of the interior - to join him. "He wanted to have a Republican friend there," Kempthorne recalled.
Kempthorne spoke of a moment he and Kennedy shared with a man they met while serving on the Armed Services Committee.
The retired colonel had returned his Vietnam decorations in anger after the Pentagon determined his son committed suicide.
Kempthorne wrote the man, saluting him for his testimony and urging him to reclaim his medals.
The colonel was from Massachusetts, so Kennedy joined Kempthorne as the decorations were returned in a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery.
