The political spotlight right now is on the coming 2010 elections, and rightfully so. However, some recent moves may indicate that at least one Virginia politician has his eye on 2012 and reelection. That leader’s name is Jim Webb.

Virginia’s senior US Senator will be up for reelection that year for a second term. He barely defeated Republican Sen. George Allen in 2006 in a race that was one of the biggest upsets of the year.

Since winning, Sen. Webb has been one of the highest profile first term senators in modern history. He has headlined foreign trips, delivered the Democratic response to former President Bush’s State of the Union address in 2007, been a frequent guest on the national talk shows, and pushed through several important pieces of legislation.

This former Republican came to the US Senate without a voting record, as this was his first elected office. Some were predicting that he would be a maverick who would be a thorn in the side of his party and its leaders. But, that hasn’t necessarily been the case. In fact, for the most part he has been a reliable vote for the Democratic caucus.

But, recently Sen. Webb has staked out some stances that are more at odds with his party and could signal that his is shoring up his political standing in a state that just saw Republicans sweep the three statewide offices.

Following the election of Republican Scott Brown to fill the seat of the late Ted Kennedy, Sen. Webb was the first Democratic leader to announce that Congress should not vote on health care reform until Brown could be seated. Some Democrats were trying to figure out how to pass the bill before Brown was sworn in.

Earlier this week, Sen. Webb announced his opposition to trying terror suspects in civilian courts. Webb was joined by five other senators in asking Attorney General Eric Holder to reverse his decision and try those suspects in military commissions. This move is in direct opposition to the Obama Administration.

Wednesday, Sen. Webb, along with Virginia’s junior Sen. Mark Warner, called on the Interior Department to move more quickly to enable Virginia to start offshore drilling exploration of its coast. This is in opposition to the stance of many Democrats and environment leaders and more in line with Republicans including former Governor Jim Gilmore and our current Governor, Bob McDonnell.

And, even his statement following President Obama’s State of the Union address signaled a decidedly bipartisan tone. In a written statement he said, “My colleagues on both sides of the aisle should work ever harder to approach the issues that face us with less partisan maneuvering and a more genuine commitment to resolving the truly daunting challenges that now face working Americans.”

In a week, Sen. Webb has made some very high profile moves to the middle, where most Virginia voters are. And those moves came just days after George Allen indicated that he was considering a rematch with Webb.

All of this says one thing to me: while we are still 9 months away from the 2010 election, the maneuvering for the 2012 election has already begun.