The campaign Web site for Eliot Spitzer, the attorney general looking to take Governor Pataki’s job, may say “2006,” but already the discussion has hop scotched ahead two years.

Three clicks into the Democrat’s red, white, and blue site is a chat room where talk has bypassed getting Mr. Spitzer to the governor’s mansion next year and homed in on sending him to the White House in 2008 to succeed President Bush.

The message board had nine postings last night, each pontificating on a possible Spitzer presidential run and handicapping how it would happen.

One author even filled out Mr. Spitzer’s ticket, with Senator Obama of Illinois as the candidate for vice president. “Too bad we have to wait 4 more years,” the entry read.

With Senator Kerry unable to close the deal in November’s contentious election, Democrats have been searching for a candidate with enough charisma to win the White House back – even before Mr. Bush has been inaugurated for his second term. Though rumors also abound about Senator Clinton making a 2008 run, political consultants said the Democratic Party would be foolish if it hasn’t learned from the last election to avoid candidates from the Northeast.

“I would hope Democrats understand the geography of the presidential race and that New York is not a natural incubator for a presidential candidate,” a professor at New York University, Mitchell Moss, said. “Now that Massachusetts has been eliminated we should expect that New York is next.”

Mr. Moss added: “It’s never a good idea to run for an office from an office that you don’t occupy and haven’t yet won.”

Mr. Spitzer’s campaign manager, Cindy Darrison, said yesterday that the Web site was designed for “free and open political discussion.” She said the visitors to the site, not the campaign, were responsible for posting “topics of discussion.” The chat about 2008 was reported on by the Associated Press yesterday.

As for a 2008 run, Ms. Darrison would say only that Mr. Spitzer “is 100% focused on 2006 and becoming the next governor of the state of New York.”

In this week’s People magazine, Mr. Spitzer, asked if he’d run for president, is quoted as saying, “No, no, no. Never, never, no.” Prodded by his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, he modifies his statement to: “I can’t imagine ever running for president.”

The message board is at www.spitzer2006.com.