An early favorite bites the dust. “[A]t this time, I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America’s future here in the trenches of the United States Senate,” reads a statement from John Thune (R-SD) who was once thought to be considering a run for the presidency in 2012.

You can read his entire statement below the fold.

This will come as particularly disappointing news to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had encouraged him to run, and to New York Times columnist David Brooks, who shortly after President Obama was elected gushed “he is tall (6 feet 4 inches), tanned (in a prairie, sun-chapped sort of way) and handsome (John McCain jokes that if he had Thune’s face he’d be president right now). If you wanted a Republican with the same general body type and athletic grace as Barack Obama, you’d pick Thune.”

Thune was always going to have a tough time in the GOP primary field, particularly vis-a-vis his 2008 vote for TARP.

For months now, my wife Kimberley and I have received encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and supporters from across South Dakota and the country to run for the presidency of the United States. We have appreciated hearing their concerns about where the country is headed and their hopes for a new direction.