Herb Kohl loans his campaign $1 million

Rumors of Sen. Herb’s retirement in 2012 may be dramatically exaggerated:

Amid mounting speculation that he may retire, Sen. Herb Kohl pumped $1 million from his personal funds into his campaign committee account at the end of 2010.

While the $1 million loan is not a sure sign that Kohl, D-Wis., will seek re-election, it certainly doesn’t support any notion of his retirement.

If Sen. Kohl does run for reelection in 2012, folks like Dave Westlake and Rep. Paul Ryan – both of whom have been rumored to be interested in the seat – will certainly have a much tougher time winning the seat.

Then again, Dave Westlake would probably have a hard time making it out of a Republican U.S. Senate primary against Rep. Ryan or any other half-decent Republican candidate with a pulse, as evidenced by Westlake’s performance against Ron Johnson in 2010.