There are a couple of very good articles out today with respect to Governor Mitt Romney’s quest for the presidency in 2008. The first one, from Al Hunt of Bloomberg News, makes the case that Romney is positioned, through a combination of performance and a lack of competition for the niche, to be the consensus Republican presidential champion of movement conservatives in 2008.

For myself, while I find the Hunt analysis plausible – especially given the historic antipathy of many conservatives toward Senator John McCain and prior to Mayor Rudy Giuliani?being queried in a campaign environment on?his prior, left-leaning positions on abortion, gays, guns – I still believe that the question of his Mormon faith (which Hunt underscores with polling data indicating that one-third of Republicans and Independents will not vote for a Mormon for president) could potentially derail his candidacy.

The second article, by Kimberly Atkins of the Boston Herald, reports on the buzz that Romney is interested in selecting Governor Jeb Bush of Florida as his 2008 running mate. This buzz has been fueled by the recent Romney hiring for his Commwealth PAC of Bush aides Sally Bradshaw and Ann Woods Herberger.

Again, I personally find the Atkins analysis plausible, though I question whether the electorate in 2008?might not?have had enough of dynasty candidates on the?national level – Bushes, Doles, Clintons – given the inevitable agendas, grudges, and prejudices they bring from past elections and administrations of their relatives. I am thinking – or perhaps it is more akin to hoping – that voters in 2008 are going to be looking for fresh approaches, ideas, and faces. We’ll see.