Read Wayne Greene’s blog about the decisions that keep Brad Henry awake at night.
tulsaworld.com/waynesworld

It's the question on everyone's lips, Gov. Brad Henry says.

What's he going to do in two years?

Once he knows, maybe he'll let the rest of us in on it.

"I get that question almost every day," Henry told the Tulsa World. "I just frankly don't know right now."

Here's the rub: In two years Henry's second term as governor ends.

The state Constitution prevents him from running for governor again for at least four years.

(Hypothetically, he could return to the Legislature and serve there for two years before a different set of term limits would force him out of office again, but that possibility makes Henry laugh out loud.)

Meanwhile, the term of U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn — who has been circumspect about his own plans — also ends in 2010.

The obvious scenario is for Henry to follow the pattern of former Gov. David Boren, who left the governor's office in 1979 and went to the Senate.

Imagine that clash of Oklahoma political Titans: Henry against Coburn.

Don't hold your breath, sports fans.

Henry repeats the oldest cliche in show business — never say never — but then gives a pretty airtight case against a 2010 Senate race.

"It's just not very appealing to me right now," he said.

The governor's youngest daughter is 11. She will be 13 in 2010, and Henry says he honestly can't see transplanting her to Washington, D.C., or commuting back and forth to his family.

"I love public service," Henry said. "In some respect, I will always be in public service."

But, if jobs in Washington, D.C., are out and the governor's office is off limits until 2014, what's left?

Nothing elective.

"If I had to guess or bet right now, you are correct about that," Henry said.

He's served in elective offices for 16 years, and a hiatus has its attractions, he said.

When you're the governor you live in a fishbowl, and so does your family.

Go out to eat with your wife, and someone will walk over and want to talk education policy.

Your children get to know the security detail by their first names.

Not that Henry's complaining. He loves being Oklahoma's governor.

"Kim and I have enjoyed very much our time in this position," he said. "It's absolutely the best job on the Earth."

But he won't miss the constant scrutiny.

If Henry does take a vacation from elective office, it seems likely he'll be able to make a comeback.

History suggests that if you're a successful governor, being out of the voters' sight for a while doesn't mean you're out of their hearts.

Gov. Henry Bellmon left the governor's office in 1967 and came back to win a U.S. Senate seat (defeating an incumbent) in 1968. Gov. Dewey Bartlett was narrowly defeated in his re-election bid in 1970 and won a Senate seat two years later.

If Henry sits out of office for four years, he legally could run for governor again or for Jim Inhofe's Senate seat in 2014, when Henry will be 51 and Inhofe will be 79.

There's another potential clash of Titans for you.

But that, as Henry would be the first the point out, is a long time from now.

Whoever succeeds Henry in office in 2010 probably will get a state in pretty good shape, and that, in part, is what makes Henry such a marketable political quantity.

There's no telling what's going to happen to the state's economy, but right now Oklahoma is in an enviable position.

Unlike most states, it doesn't face the prospect of a budget shortfall this year.

Jobs, home values and tax receipts are steady or growing, again in contrast to the rest of the nation.

If economic disaster were to strike, the state's "Rainy Day" fund has nearly $700 million in it, an accomplishment Henry rightly takes some pride in.

Contrast that to the state of the state when Henry came into office.

In his first year, he faced a $677 million budget shortfall, and economic indicators that were all pointing in the wrong direction.

Whether he was the cause or the beneficiary of the state's resurgence from that point is a good debate, but one thing's for certain: It gives him future political potency long after he leaves office.

Which is what will happen in two years.

Until then, Henry says he's just going to stay busy being governor and let the future take care of the future.

"I haven't laid out a future," Henry said. "I'm not too worried about it."