John McCain is exploring...

(According to CNN) The 2008 race for the White House intensified Thursday as one of the big name Republican players, Sen. John McCain, threw himself into the fray. This is great news in my opinion. John McCain is more popular to most Democrats than Hillary Clinton, so it will be good to see John and Rudy duke it out then give Hillary a knock out punch.

The 70-year-old Arizona senator is the fourth Republican to say they will form an exploratory committee in the race for the GOP presidential nomination since the party took what President Bush called "a thumping" in the midterm elections.

Exploratory committees allow would-be candidates to raise campaign money without having to publicly disclose donations or expenditures.

McCain's name recognition can only be matched by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to form a committee last week. The moderate conservative's performance in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks earned him praise and fame across the nation.

Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, outgoing chairman of the powerful House Armed Services Committee, was the first to form a committee.

On Wednesday, Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor who headed the Department of Health and Human Services in Bush's Cabinet during his first term, said he is considering a White House bid. An aide said Thompson is expected to create his exploratory committee early next year.

McCain posted a statement on his Web site Wednesday saying the move will "continue my conversation with the American people over the direction of the Republican Party and the future of our country."

"During the next couple of months, I will be talking with my family, friends and supporters about whether to officially announce a run for president," McCain said. "Prior to that decision, the formation of this committee is the first legal step in that process."

McCain is expected to file committee registration paperwork with the FEC on Thursday.

He will also spend the day delivering speeches to the Federalist Society, a group of conservative attorneys, and GOPAC, an education and training center for Republican candidates and activists across the country.

Registered Republicans surveyed in an October CNN poll about their 2008 presidential preferences put Giuliani and McCain at the top of the heap, well ahead of other possible contenders.

Giuliani was the choice of 29 percent; McCain, 27 percent.

I am thinking that either John McCain or Rudy Giuliani would make a great President, although John McCain probably more suitable with his time in the senate. Maybe Giuliani would be a great VP?