John Thune isn't running for president. 
 
 "For months now, my wife Kimberley and I have received encouragement from family, friends, colleagues, and supporters from across South Dakota and the country to run for the presidency of the United States," Thune said in a statement posted on his website today. 
 
 Text Size - 
 
 + 
 
 reset VIDEO: Thune at CPAC VIDEO: Thune on 2012- Sept. '10 POLITICO 44 
 
 "I feel that I am best positioned to fight for America’s future here in the trenches of the United States Senate," he said. Thune's statement didn't indicate who he might support in the 2012 presidential primary. 
 
 Thune had an afternoon conference call to speak with supporters, and he called top donors early Tuesday to inform them of his decision. 
 
 Thune, who beat Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle to win his Senate seat in 2004, has been thinking about a presidential bid for months — but his inquiries were tepid compared to other more organized candidates. Earlier this month, he was tapped to serve on the powerful Finance Committee — and with Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) set to retire next year, there is space for Thune to move up the ranks of the Senate leadership. 
 
 The South Dakotan had made clear in recent weeks that he lacked any burning desire to get on the campaign trail. “I like where I am," Thune said in an interview with POLITICO earlier this month. "I like what I do. These committee assignments are obviously going to give me a full portfolio for the foreseeable future. ... I’m in a place where I think I can make a difference. 
 
 He told confidantes there are three main reasons for his decision: his role in the Senate, his family and the timing. 
 
 "In 2012, there are a slew of Democratic seats that are up, and you could see the Senate flip. I think he wants to help his Senate colleagues win back the majority," top Republican fundraiser Gregory Slayton told POLITICO. Slayton, now based at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business in New Hampshire, has been speaking with Thune regularly for weeks. 
 
 Thune told Slayton he had to consider his family's role in a grueling presidential campaign — a sentiment that Thune expressed in his POLITICO interview when he said his wife had read "Game Change," an account of the 2008 campaign. 
 
 "It was not helpful,” he joked, calling the book a “downer.” 
 
 The third problem: timing. "Is this the right time in John's political career? With Kyl retiring, there are further opportunities for him in the Senate — and not just general Senate responsibilities but the overall role he might play," Slayton said. ||||| South Dakota Sen. John Thune says he's not looking to be Mitt Romney's running mate, but wouldn't rule out taking the offer if it's extended. 
 
 "Now that Governor Romney is the nominee, going to be the nominee of our party, he and his team have put in place a process whereby they will look at various people. I have high level confidence. I've seen him and his organization. He puts really good people around him. He'll have a number of good people to choose from," the Republican senator said on "Fox News Sunday." 
 
 "What I have said - and I mean that sincerely - is I respect that process, but I want to work with the president...who is serious about solving the country's problems and getting us back on the right track," Thune said. "We can't stay on the track that we're on right now or we are headed toward Europe, and that's why we need a new president. And I hope that we can get a majority in the Senate to work with him and really focus on solving these problems. I hope to be a partner with a President Romney and his administration in the United States Senate to get serious about putting this country back on track." 
 
 Thune, who beat Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle to win his Senate seat in 2004, ruled out his own presidential bid last February and was an early Mitt Romney endorser. He's now rumored as a vice presidential prospect, but says he's happy with the job he's got and doesn't "aspire to do anything else." 
 
 "I don't think you ever rule out opportunities or options when you're involved in public life and you say you want to make a difference and you're serious about that, obviously, then you don't foreclose options. But in my view, I have a job to do in the United States Senate, I like what I'm doing. i think I can make a difference there," Thune said. "I think working with a Republican president we can do some really good things for this country." 
 
 Read more about: John Thune, Mitt Romney ||||| Sen. Lamar Alexander will resign from his influential Republican leadership post in January, a stunning decision by the former two-time presidential candidate who has played a central role shaping GOP strategy during President Barack Obama’s time in office. 
 
 In a letter sent Tuesday morning to Republican senators — first reported by POLITICO — Alexander said he will cut short his leadership term by quitting as Republican Conference chairman, the No. 3 job, and abandoning his hopes to ascend to the powerful Senate Republican whip job in the next Congress. 
 
 Text Size - 
 
 + 
 
 reset POLITICO 44 
 
 Alexander says the decision was rooted in his desire to foster consensus in the gridlocked Senate, a role he felt constrained playing while spearheading the partisan Senate GOP messaging machine. 
 
 “Stepping down from leadership will liberate me to spend more time working for results on the issues I care most about,” he said in the letter. “I want to do more to make the Senate a more effective institution so that it can deal better with serious issues. There are different ways to provide leadership within the Senate. After nine years here, this is how I believe I can now make my greatest contribution. For these same reasons, I do not plan to seek a leadership position in the next Congress.” 
 
 Alexander — the 71-year-old former Tennessee governor and U.S. education secretary under President George H.W. Bush who unsuccessfully sought his party’s presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000 by portraying himself as a populist crusader — will still serve in the Senate and plans to run for reelection for a third term in 2014. 
 
 Alexander has already informed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of his decision but kept the news closely guarded until he informed his colleagues Tuesday morning. 
 
 By deciding to return to the rank and file, Alexander has reordered the Republican pecking order in the Senate. 
 
 Next in line to fill his third-ranking spot would be Sen. John Thune, the 50-year-old South Dakotan who decided against mounting a run for the Republican presidential nomination and currently sits at the No. 4 post as chairman of the Republican Policy Committee. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the 59-year-old orthopedic surgeon who has quickly jumped the party hierarchy since he joined the Senate in 2007 and now serves as vice chairman of the conference, could then ascend to Thune’s position. 
 
 Thune told reporters Tuesday morning he plans to run for conference chairman in January.
– The 2012 crop of GOP presidential candidates got a little smaller today: South Dakota Sen. John Thune announced on Facebook that he's not running. After "lots of prayer," he decided that he'll stay put and "fight for America’s future here in the trenches of the United States Senate." Thune—who defeated then-Democratic Majority Leader Tom Daschle in 2004—had never been among the presidential front-runners, and his Senate career is getting more promising, reports Politico. The conservative scored a spot on the influential Finance Committee earlier this month.