THE NEXT BEST THING TO JEB:

Indiana's Mitch Daniels 'open' to a White House run (Dan Balz, 2/22/10, Washington Post)

Daniels said he has had a number of conversations in recent months -- "none initiated by me" -- where the question of a 2012 campaign came up. "Just to get them off my back, I agreed to a number of people that I will now stay open to the idea," he said.

Among the people he has talked with is former president George W. Bush, though Daniels said it was not that conversation per se that tipped him to reopen a door he had seemingly closed.