I just read a Robert Novak article about Mitt Romney setting up the necessary network to run for president in 2008. A Republican governor from Mass running could be interesting. He's demonstrated that he's pro-life on all fronts (abortion, stem cell research), but he has been accused of posturing b/c when he first ran he labeled himself as "for choice." I was particularly suprised by the mention that Romney would not run for reelection in 2006 in Mass. Why run for President if you don't run for reelection in your own state? The only reason I could think of is that he would lose his reelection and thereby be unable to muster the credibility to run in 2008.
Romney's father was the governor of Michigan over 30 yrs ago, so there is some history in an early primary state (he's been campaigning in Michigan with other candidates, so he's setting an early foundation). The only problem that Novak sees is that Romney is a Morman and there is great uncertainty in how a Morman would fair electorally.
Given the wide-open speculation for the GOP nominee in 2008 (Santorum, Frist, Romney, Brownback, Guiliani, Pataki, McCain, etc) I'm interested in hearing GOP responses.