There's a reason why serious presidential hopefuls are often governors or senators -- you really have to demonstrate that you can carry your own state.

Forget Florida in 2000, former Tennessee Sen. Al Gore wasn't able to carry his home state -- a seemingly trivial accomplishment that would've made Florida's ballot mess moot.

Which brings us to GOP congressman Duncan Hunter of San Diego's announcement today that he is considering a run for president in 2008.

We have a problem.

Though the conservative Hunter will have no problem carrying his East County district, he doesn't have a prayer of getting solidly blue California's electoral votes.

A presidential candidate who doesn't have much hope of assuring a win in his home state isn't going to get much support nationwide no matter how good his voting record looks. Republicans, like Democrats, want to win -- and I don't think anyone (besides himself) thinks that Hunter can win the presidency.