New York Rep. Peter King is open to running for president in 2012, telling the Associated Press, "Let's see what happens." King chairs the House homeland security committee and held controversial hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims earlier this year. King was urged to run by the Nassau County Republican Party at a dinner Tuesday night and King said, "I guess anything can happen but right now I’m just focusing on getting reelected to Congress."

King is also being talked about as a possible challenger to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2012, another race for which King says he "will keep my options open." King is an aggressive bomb-thrower--he has a long history of proudly supporting the Irish Republican Arny, for example, and has been a sharp critic of Obama. Donald Trump's faux candidacy, which briefly shot him to the top of some polls, shows that Republican voters have an appetite for a candidate who will harshly attack the president.

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Elspeth Reeve