There is no probably about it - Dick Cheney will not run, neither will Jeb Bush.
Schwarzenegger would love to run, but can't - at least at the moment and there won't be a constitutional amendment by then, anyway.
So, your candidates are:
1. Rudolph Guiliani
2. John McCain - don't be surprised by this - age is a factor, but he wants to be President.
3. George Pataki - although if Rudy runs, this may not happen.
4. Mitt Romney - family credentials (father, George, then Governor of Michigan ran for President in 1960s), conservative from Massachusetts, by way of Michigan and a stint in Colorado.
5. George Allen from Virginia.
6. George Voinovich from Ohio.
7. And don't be surprised if you see a slimmer, "stealthier" John Engler, former governor of Michigan looking to run.
Two other conservatives to watch with real interest -
1. Rick Santorum from Pennsylvania.
2. Little known rep from California, but impeccable conservative credentials - Christopher Cox. Good looking, or at least my girlfriend says so, smart and great on the stump.
The next Republican candidate will be conservative enough to win the south and either from the east or midwest, which would tend to rule out George Allen of Virginia.
Media favorites like McCain and Guiliani, of course, will have a leg up with the MSM given their moderate appeal, but their ability to be effective candidates in the south against a southern democrat is marginal at best. Dems win or run well when they run southern democrats - this is why a Guiliani or McCain candidacy is dangerous in the bible belt south.
We need a conservative with ability to appeal to the midwest rust belt states - preferably, someone from Michigan, Ohio or Pennsylvania. As a conservative, they will take the south and as from the midwest, they marginalize the blue states in the Great Lakes area, which for the foreseeable future are the bellweather of presidential politics.
None of these. This is a long shot but I'd take a look at the little known former mayor of St. Paul, MN, who now serves in the US Senate. Pro-life, pro RKBA, former liberal turned conservative. He speaks well, thinks right...
6. George Voinovich from Ohio...????
the dummies would complain his name is too hard to spell.
(I'm not too far off on this...think about it)
Doogle
Why have you left out Dr. Condi Rice?