Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Thursday he intends to "explore" a run for president in 2012 should his father, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), decide against another campaign. 

"He has not made his mind up," Paul said of his father at a Thursday appearance in Kentucky. "If he does not run, I have not ruled it out, and I will think about it." 

Earlier in the day, Paul told a Kentucky radio station that if the Texas congressman doesn't run, "then I think there are options open and we will explore those options."

After Thursday's event, Paul also told the AP that supporters in a number of states are encouraging him to pursue the presidency in 2012 should his father opt out.  

At an appearance earlier this week in South Carolina, the first-term senator and member of the Senate's Tea Party Caucus said the only decision he's made on 2012 is that he won't run if his father opts for a bid. 

The elder Paul is seriously considering what would be his third presidential bid, but hasn't made an official decision. 

Rand Paul has trips to both Iowa and New Hampshire on his schedule in the coming weeks.

New Mexico Lt. Gov. John Sanchez dismissed his potential rival for the GOP Senate nomination as a centrist has-been who would be unable to excite Republican voters.

Sanchez was in Washington Thursday for the National Lieutenant Governors Association's winter meeting as he explores a possible Senate bid.

Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) announced last month he wouldn't seek reelection in 2012, prompting several candidates to surge into the GOP primary for the open seat. The field now includes former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), businessman and former congressional candidate Greg Sowards and Bill English. 

Sanchez, who has yet to declare his intentions, said Wilson's time has passed.  

"I think Heather served honorably," he said in an interview. "But if we consider the choices that were made by former establishment candidates, I think it's clear the choices will be very easy for the people of New Mexico.

"Do they want a return back to the days of moderate-type leaders [whose] conservative compasses [weren’t] pointed in the right direction? Or are they looking for somebody who doesn't have to reinvent himself?" he said. "I think the choice for U.S. Senate is abundantly clear."

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) will form an exploratory committee by June if she runs for president.

Their final debate of the Iowa GOP caucus campaign will be co-hosted in December with ABC News.

The forum will be broadcast live from Des Moines the weekend of Dec. 10 and will be moderated by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. Details about the location have yet to be released. 

The ABC debate will be the third in a series sponsored by the state GOP. 

"Republicans all across Iowa have repeatedly asked their party leadership to take a greater role in presidential caucus debates," Matt Strawn, chairman of the Iowa GOP, said in a statement. "I am pleased for the first time, the Iowa GOP will have both a cable and network debate partner during the First-in-the-Nation Caucus process."

The Republicans also teamed up with Fox News for two debates. The caucuses are set for Feb. 6, but that could change depending on other states' primary schedules.

Real estate mogul Donald Trump said Wednesday that questions over whether President Obama was born in the United States are legitimate, claiming, "There's something on that birth certificate that he doesn't like." 

Echoing the sentiments of so-called "birthers" during an interview on ABC's "The View," Trump demanded, "I want him to show his birth certificate." 

Obama was born in Hawaii; his birth certificate is on file at the state's Department of Health. 

Still, Trump insisted that questions over Obama's birthplace have not been settled. 

"Why doesn't he show his birth certificate?" Trump asked. "I wish he would, because I think it's a terrible pale that's hanging over him." 

Voters in Ohio are split on whether President Obama deserves a second term in 2012, according to a new poll. 

But with Hispanic populations booming in several pivotal states, some strategists worry a heated immigration debate could hinder take-over efforts.

Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday that if Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) loses his reelection race next year, it means President Obama and the Democratic presidential ticket won't win the key battleground state, either. 

Headlining a fundraiser for the Democratic senator in Florida Wednesday, the vice president said the success of the presidential ticket in 2012 is directly linked to Nelson, telling supporters "as goes Bill Nelson in Florida, so go Barack Obama and Joe Biden in Florida," according to a pool report. 

Biden was in the state to attend two events for Nelson on Wednesday, the first of which was a $500 per plate lunch attended by an estimated 150 donors.  

"He's a truly, truly decent guy who has the absolute respect of his colleagues, and I've heard that from both sides of the aisle," Biden said of his former Senate colleague.

The vice president's visit marks the second high-profile event to benefit Nelson already this year. The Democratic is a top GOP target in 2012.   

Earlier this month, Obama headlined a joint fundraiser in Florida, benefiting both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Nelson's 2012 campaign.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill's tax bill continues to grow, much to the delight of Republicans.

The first-term Democrat will likely have to pay close to an additional $40,000 to St. Louis County to cover interest and penalties related to her failure to pay personal property taxes on a private plane stored at the Spirit of St. Louis airport.

McCaskill has already sent the county's Department of Revenue checks for more than $287,000 to cover the personal property taxes owed on the plane for 2007 to 2010.

That left her with an outstanding balance of $32,000, although that could change, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 

The senator has yet to receive a final tax bill and has been making payments proactively to rectify the matter, according to her office.

During a conference call on Monday, McCaskill said she wasn't making any attempt to avoid paying taxes on the aircraft and noted that the parent company that owns the plane, Timesaver LLC, had consistently paid sales taxes on it.

"Nobody's trying to evade taxes here," said McCaskill, a former state auditor. "That's why the sales tax was paid 55 months in a row."

On Wednesday, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) weighed in on McCaskill's ongoing tax trouble with some "perspective."

The amount McCaskill owes St. Louis County "is roughly [three times] more than what former Sen. Tom Daschle owed in back taxes before being forced to withdraw his name for HHS Secretary in 2009, and roughly [10 times] the amount U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel [D-N.Y.] was said to have owed in back taxes before he was censored by the U.S. House last year," an NRSC spokesman said in a statement.

--Updated at 8:27 p.m.