[kesFockplek]

LA Times: http://www.latimes.com/news/politics...0,308262.story

Rep. Jeff Flake made it official this week. Four days after Republican Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona said he would not stand for reelection in 2012, the six-term GOP congressman from suburban Phoenix said he'd launch a bid to replace him.

But much of the speculation concerning the seat, such as it can exist 18 months before an election, continues to swirl around Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.

A few short weeks ago, it was unimaginable that anyone could tie Giffords' name to a 2012 Senate campaign, but the wounded congresswoman, shot in Tucson on Jan. 8, is reportedly making so much progress that the prospect sounds plausible, if not, as of yet, very realistic.

Prior to the Tucson shootings, Giffords was viewed as one of the best the Democratic Party, in Arizona and elsewhere, had to offer. She's moderate, charismatic, and a proven fundraiser. And she had won reelection in about as tough a political environment as has existed for incumbent Democrats in a generation. As a Senate candidate, she would enjoy a national profile.

Giffords continues to rehabilitate at a facility in Houston — and there is no timetable for her return to her official duties. "There will be plenty of time to figure out what the future may hold," said C.J. Karamargin, Giffords' spokesman. "Right now, the office is focused is on the congresswoman's recovery and doing the job what the congresswoman has asked us to do — helping her constituents."