By David J. Sanders

If politics is all about timing, which is affected by proximity and intent, then it appears Republican Tim Griffin’s much-talked about, but never-quite-materialized U.S. Senate candidacy will have to wait.

In GOP circles, he has generated the type of excitement one campaigning for public office would hope to have. He’s been traveling the state since January, giving Republican groups plenty of red meat, while laying the ground work for a potential campaign.

But in other quadrants, mainly Democratic ones, Griffin, who once famously worked for Karl Rove at the White House, generates an equal amount of excitement. Some Democrats welcome the opportunity to pin all of the Bush Administration’s shortcomings on his shoulders should he run against Sen. Blanche Lincoln.

On Wednesday, just after finishing a speech to a class at Bennington College in Vermont – he was a fulfilling promise to a college friend from Oxford, who’d begged him to speak to his class — Griffin cited several reasons over a bad cell phone connection as to why his U.S. Senate candidacy will have to wait for another time.

He’s got a lot going on, not the least of which is his recent transfer to a new Army Reserve unit in Nashville, Tenn., where Major Griffin is now in charge of an entire lot of JAG officers. The military is a big part of his life and is a reason many Republicans like him. He’s been to Iraq on active duty and now is pursuing his dream of moving up in the officer corps. The major is on track to become a lieutenant colonel, but it will take some time.

But there is more to it than that. A newly minted dad with expectations for more children – though no announcements yet — he has his hands full growing a family. Griffin’s the kind of guy who always tells you what new thing his daughter is doing, and he drops everything to take his wife’s phone calls. He has a brand new home, a Greek revival with austere, but perfectly proportioned, columns (it was built to Jeffersonian standards), which he hopes will be a full house.

In addition to growing a family, he’s also growing a new public affairs/law practice, which has him traveling a lot and serving as an adviser to a few high profile political campaigns. He’s advising Texas U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison in her bid to unseat Republican Gov. Rick Perry. He’s built up significant client list, which ranges from performing legal work to issue advocacy.

Since he’s not running, who will pick up the slack?

State Sen. Kim Hendren, as one Republican operative recently put it, “that Jewed” himself out of the race with his completely inappropriate reference to Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. State Sen. Gilbert Baker has yet to make up his mind. That leaves Curtis Coleman, the Little Rock biotech executive, who recently formed an exploratory committee. He’s the only candidate inching toward the race.

Griffin believes Mrs. Lincoln is vulnerable, but that it will take the right candidate with the right message. So what does he or she look (and sound) like?

In addition to having broad attraction, geographic appeal and being creditable on taxes and spending, Griffin believes the ideal Republican candidate will have “to craft a message that appeals to conservative Democrats, Independents” as well as those in the GOP.

That appealing message, he said, must include a pro-growth agenda that encourages economic opportunity, but also will focus on getting the country’s fiscal house in order.

He thinks that approach will work against Mrs. Lincoln, especially in this conservative state.

So what’s next? He said he’ll remain focused on Arkansas’ public policy process – he has a few ideas up his sleeve. But is there an ever-so slight opportunity he’ll change his mind and launch a candidacy? It’s possible, although not likely, but you never know; politics is all about timing.

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David J. Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock and is the host of Arkansas Education Television Network’s “Unconventional Wisdom.” His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com.