The first-term Governor is one of the few state politicians not up for re-election this year, but he has his own problems with the voters.

The group opposes the collective bargaining changes and other measures pushed into law last year by Walker, a first-term governor.

The movement to restrict litigation is being propelled mainly by Republicans, led by a new generation of first-term governors.

Dr. Huber did not know how long the first-term Republican Governor would have to remain in the hospital.

And a first-term Governor only 20 months into his term is probably not the strongest contender for his party's Presidential nomination, some analysts would argue.

"It shouldn't surprise anyone that a first-term governor would not commute a death sentence," said Professor Uelmen, an opponent of capital punishment.

"How come first-term governors in California and New York are considered Presidential timber and not others?"

The fact that the GOP establishment would pin its hope on a first-term governor of a yankee state is a sign of desperation.

And yet, Roy Barnes, Georgia's first-term Democratic governor, is showing up on lists of presidential mentionables for 2004.

Florida Democrats, sensing vulnerability in a first-term Republican Governor, sought to avoid the usual intra-party wrangling this year.