2012 Watch: Petraeus to visit Iowa in 2010

Reid Wilson picks up on this interesting tidbit from the Weekly Standard:

General David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. Central Command, will make a high-profile speech in Iowa about a year and a half before the state’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, according to a report.

Petraeus will be the commencement speaker at the University of Iowa in 2010. His visit is sure to set tongues wagging in the battle for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012.

It won’t be the general’s first address to graduates, according to the Weekly Standard, which first reported Petraeus’s plans. Petraeus will also give the commencement speech at one of his alma maters this year, when he speaks to students at Princeton University, where he earned a Ph.D. in 1987.

Reid notes that Petraeus, who implemented the “surge” strategy in Iraq, has already become a favorite potential presidential contender for some Republicans, leading to the creation of www.Petraeus2012.com.

What do you think? Could Petraeus be a legitimate contender in 2012?

UPDATE: Turns out Petraeus is not going to Iowa after all.

jeremy.jacobs@digital-stage.thehill.com