Former U.S. Senator Bill Frist may already have his sights set on his next job, and it doesnt involve a stethoscope.

According to the Washington, D.C. political newspaper The Hill, Frist has his sights set on becoming Tennessee's next governor in 2010.

Interestingly, the article was written by former Memphis Commercial Appeal reporter Sam Youngman, who now works for The Hill in D.C. and has strong Tennessee ties.

One First supporter went as far as telling Youngman that "It's a done deal."

Frist recently aborted a widely anticipated 2008 presidential run after what was deemed a less than successful tenure as the Republican Senate Majority Leader.

Coming back to Tennessee and being elected governor would give Frist a platform down the road for a future presidential run.

The same strategy was employed by former President Richard M. Nixon after his defeat to President John F. Kennedy in 1960. Nixon then ran and lost a race for governor of California in 1962. Kennedy's subsequent assasination and the escalating war in Vietnam eventually reversed Nixon's fortunes, despite the California defeat.

Should Frist throw his hat in the ring, that would be bad news for those on the GOP bench who are widely known to have aspirations for the governor's office. Among them are Congressman Zach Wamp, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, and former state GOP party chair and current State Rep. Beth Halteman Harwell.