Okay, so he's probably the biggest of all dark horses - though liberals would probably refer to him instead as the biggest "dark lord." And, yes, he makes the list in no small part because of daughter Liz Cheney's impromptu blurting out "Cheney 2012" during the Fox News Sunday panel this weekend. So let's indulge Ms. Cheney and play the game.

Obviously, Vice President Cheney has been a remarkably vocal critic of President Obama's decisions on national security. He's also been remarkably effective.  Cheney is still regarded with utter respect and admiration among most conservative Republicans, and his numbers with the general public, while still low, have been on rise since he left office.

You can expect that trend to continue when his book comes out next year and the caricature of "Darth Vader" gives way as Cheney gets to tell his side of the story of the many difficult decisions of the Bush administration directly to the public.

The downsides to a Cheney run are so obvious as to not need repeating. He'll also be 71 in 2012, and he's still dealing with a bit of bum ticker.

Nevertheless, Dick Cheney is a GOP heavyweight and would be a formidable primary candidate.  More to the point, nothing would match the drama of an Obama - Cheney general election cage match. It would be a hard hitting but extremely substantive debate over the biggest issues the country has faced since 9/11 and continues to face moving forward.

Too bad it almost certainly won't happen.