John Ensign for president — I like it!

Anyone paying attention to politics knows that all of a sudden Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is in the public spotlight nationally.

Newspaper wags and bloggers (who hate Republicans as a general rule) were quick to discount the possibility. They make fun of his full head of hair, his boyish good looks and his great golf game. It is this kind of goofball, personal destruction tactic that makes me think the political left in America is more than a wee bit scared of a candidate like Ensign.

He's built for TV, has money and when it comes to affable personalities, he has Laxalt-like qualities.

And here's the good part: He's a solid conservative with traditional values. Now look, if Obama lucks out and the greatness of America's economy finds a way to shine through even the best efforts of Democrats to socialize it, nobody's going to beat Obama in 2012. But if the economy sputters and voters begin to focus on Obama's deficit spending or, if Obama's "like me, please" foreign policy sows another domestic terror attack, America will absolutely give a guy like Ensign a good long look.

Perhaps it is too much to think Ensign can get all the way to the White House on his first try.

But in 2006, did you pick that guy from Illinois to win the White House?

Besides, from a purely parochial viewpoint, The Complete Las Vegan would love to see Ensign mix it up on the national stage. I think he'd be surprisingly good.