I've not heard that regarding Isakson. The WH looks solely at electability, and I got the impression they were leaning towards Isakson. I doubt he will "clear out" if Kingston gets in. The WH tried that heavy-handed approach to get Ed Bryant out of the Senate race here in TN, and it almost blew up in their face.
"Kingston has publicly said he's strongly thinking about running."
Well, he needs to stop thinking and start doing. Time's a wasting with regards to fundraising.
"As for novices, I like to see an experienced politician run when at all possible, and would only run a novice as a last resort."
We had supposedly "experienced" pols running as Republicans for the Senate and Governorship here in TN for years and met with largely poor results. Both Frist and Fred Thompson (forgot about Fred) were novices. The 'Rats have done well with novices as well.