The key races in 2007 and 2008 are already beginning to shape up with some big names choosing to and choosing not to run. Let's take a quick look at the South.

• In Kentucky, Congressman Ben Chandler, one of the first down-ticket candidates behind whom the full power of the Netroots was thrown, has decided not to run for Governor against tainted Republican incumbent Ernie Fletcher. According to Mark Nickolas of the inimitable Bluegrass Report, other Democrats potentially looking at this race (which appears to be a great pick-up opportunity for the Democrats due to Fletcher's legal woes) include former Lt. Gov. Steve Henry, former congressional candidate Jack Conway, 2003 gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford, and businessmen Ron Geary and Charlie Owen (Chandler's running mate in 2003). On the Republican side, incoming Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is not endorsing Fletcher, who may or may not be challenged in a GOP primary by Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, outgoing U.S. Rep. Anne Northup and State Rep. Scott Brinkman.
  
• In Alabama, Democratic Rep. Artur Davis, an African-American lawmaker, is considering a challenge to incumbent Republican Senator Jeff Sessions. As of the end of September, Sessions' warchest was about six times larger than that of Davis, with the Republican holding about $1.5 million on hand and the Democrat holding about $250,000. While Sessions is reliably conservative, in fact ranking as the most conservative member of the Senate in 2005 according to National Journal, Davis is no liberal, scoring a 39.2 conservative rating (out of 100) placing him to the right of Republican Jim Leach and all but 32 other Democratic Congressmen. Nonetheless, this still may be a race to watch in the coming months.
  
• In Georgia, former Democratic Senator Max Cleland has decided against seeking a rematch against freshman Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss. Cleland was widely considered to be the Democrats' best hope in the race, which would have still been a tough -- probably even uphill given trends in the state and the region. According to the Associate Press report linked to above, Democrats still thinking about the race may include "Rep. Jim Marshall of Macon, DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones and state office-holders such as Secretary of State Cathy Cox."

Update [2006-12-1 18:23:4 by Jonathan Singer]: Evan Bayh is also edging towards moving "in", in this case forming a presidential exploratory committee as early as next week.