Despite his protestations, it sounds like a "definite maybe:"

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said Friday that the Republican Governors Association has already been meeting with the incoming Speaker of the House about turning authority back toward the states.

"John Boehner totally gets it," Perry said of the Ohio Republican on Fox News. "He understands that the 10th Amendment and allowing the states to be competitive. We're talking to him about concepts of allowing block granting, for instance, on Medicaid. Allowing the states to come up for the best ways to deliver that."

Perry, who will be leading the RGA, said that the GOP governors will also be pushing their case in the Senate, where Democrats' majority will be slimmer next year.

"So, whether it's transportation, infrastructure, whether it's educating our children," Perry said. "Giving the states the right and the power and the authority to put those programs in place. Block grant them. We can save the federal government billions of dollars as well as our citizens of the state of Texas substantial dollars just by allowing that block granting."

This sounds like a great platform on which to run for president. But Perry is dismissing such talk:

"Not for me," Perry said. "I happen to think that the governors are where the action is."

When pressed on whether that was a "definite maybe," Perry shot back, "As a definite no, brother."

No good politician closes off their options nearly a year before a decision on whether to seek higher office becomes necessary. The waiting game is being played by a few others, not least of whom is Sarah Palin and Mitch Daniels. The state of the economy by summer's end will probably determine who jumps in and who doesn't.