Giffords was mentioned as one possible contender for the 2012 race during a closed-door meeting of Senate Democrats on Thursday, two sources with knowledge of the meeting said…

“A lot of people are thinking about her as potentially running,” said Cherny, who cautioned: “There is a long list of potential candidates that could be looking at running for the Senate and this is going to work itself out over the coming months, instead of days or weeks.”

A national Democratic strategist said that Giffords’s condition is a key issue that looms over the race: “Given her miraculous recovery, I suspect most folks in D.C. and Arizona would give her and her team some time to figure out if she could make a race.”