Roll Call looks at whether Sen. Jon Kyl is running for reelection in 2012:

Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl has repeatedly demurred when pushed to reveal whether he will run for re-election in 2012. The Arizona Republican appears amused by rumors that he is considering retirement and perplexed at being questioned about his political plans so soon after this year’s midterms.

Kyl, during a brief interview before Thanksgiving, joked that any announcement about running for a fourth term would be handled to maximize favorable publicity, but then he expressed exasperation with the media’s focus on an election that is two years away.

“When I make my announcement, I want to get some press on it. If I make it now, then I don’t get any press,” Kyl quipped. But then his remarks became serious.

“One of the lectures I give is, what’s wrong with the political system today,” he said. “It’s that every election starts the day after the last one. That is what’s screwing up our system, because there’s no time out to do legislation in a bipartisan way or without the press of elections. And, so I said, I’m not going to be a part of that game. I’m not going to start that right now. I say the same thing when people talk to me about presidential candidates: ‘I’m not going to go there.’”

Might he be harboring other ambitions?

Kyl is described by a second Washington, D.C.-based GOP lobbyist as a “lawyer’s lawyer” who runs his office like a well-oiled law firm. The former House Member is thought to covet a top spot in any Republican administration that might assume command of the White House in 2013, particularly the position of Attorney General, this lobbyist said. Some Republicans also think Kyl has long had his eye on receiving an appointment to the Supreme Court.

Read the whole thing, including a size-up of potential successors, here.