Orthopedic surgeon and retired Army Lt. Col. Wayne Mosley (R) will make the Congressional bid in 2010 that many Republicans had hoped he’d make in 2008.

Mosley had been talked up in GOP circles in the previous cycle as the best candidate against Rep. John Barrow (D) in the eastern Georgia 12th district, but he backed away from the race in late 2007.

Now, the decorated veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has already filed his 2010 statement of candidacy with the Federal Election Commission. In that filing he indicated he intended to spend half a million dollars of his own money on the race.

Barrow won a convincing 32-point victory over radio personality John Stone in 2008 in a district that President Barack Obama won by nearly 10 points last year. Immediately after Election Day, Stone said he planned to run again in 2010, but he has since decided against a run this cycle. Stone said Wednesday that he wouldn’t be ready for another run until at least the 2012 cycle.

Barrow isn’t wasting any time replenishing his campaign coffers for 2010. He already has a $2,500-per-head fundraiser scheduled for St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Savannah. Rep. Joe Crowley (N.Y.), a Chief Deputy Whip, is scheduled to be the special guest at that event. In 2008, Barrow spent more than $2.5 million on his re-election bid. His post-general-election report with the FEC showed that he had just $51,000 in cash on hand as of early December.