Former CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, known for his rants against illegal immigration, is considering a 2012 bid for a New Jersey U.S. Senate seat as an "intermediate step" to a possible presidential campaign, a spokesman said today.

A run for the Senate would pit Dobbs against Robert Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat who is the chamber's only Hispanic and a proponent of immigrants' rights.

"That is definitely one of the options on the table," Dobbs spokesman Robert Dilenschneider said.

Speculation about a political future began almost immediately after Dobbs parted ways with CNN Nov. 11, receiving a reported $8 million severance payment. He has encouraged such talk, even saying in an interview on former Sen. Fred Thompson's radio show Tuesday that he is thinking about running for president.

Political leaders and analysts took a wait-and-see attitude toward a Dobbs candidacy today: He has fame, a fortune and the potential to tap into public frustration with both parties, much as Ross Perot did in the 1990s. But it's not clear that Dobbs, who lives on a horse farm in Wantage, Sussex County, has a base of support or even many deep ties to New Jersey.

"We don't know a lot at this point, and from our perspective 2012 is several lifetimes away," said Kevin Roberts, spokesman for the New Jersey Republican State Committee. "We haven't heard from him yet, and we expect to have a number of challengers step forward for the Senate seat."

Dobbs called himself "Mr. Independent" on CNN and blasts both parties on his syndicated radio show, which still airs on 200 stations. He was a registered Republican until 2006, when he changed his voter registration to independent.

Dilenschneider said Dobbs could run for Senate as either an independent or a Republican. "He's tried to be in the middle, looking out for regular people who feel things are out of control," the spokesman said.

In Hillside, Menendez told reporters, "I'm concentrated on jobs, not Dobbs." His spokesman, Afshin Mohamadi, said Menendez would "relish" a challenge from "an opponent so far out of the mainstream who has never done a thing for the hard-working people of New Jersey."

Menendez, a former Union City mayor, member of the state Legislature and of the U.S. House, was appointed to the Senate in 2006 to fill the unexpired term of Gov. Corzine. Menendez won election that fall.

On the air Dobbs campaigns against labor outsourcing and free-trade policies, but he is perhaps best known for railing against illegal immigration.

It is hard to tell at this point whether immigration will be a driving issue in 2012, said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rebovich Institute of Politics at Rider University. At this point, voters are most concerned about jobs and the economy, he said.

"Just because he and Menendez have a disagreement on immigration doesn't mean voters will care," Dworkin said. In addition, "we just don't know how his personality will play when he's campaigning in a diner, someone's living room, or a party fundraiser." Running as an independent carries its own challenges, including obscure placement on the ballot, Dworkin said.

"Right now among the party folks in New Jersey there's more than a hint of skepticism that this talk is to help him get subscribers for his new website," said Tom Wilson, a former state GOP chairman. "But I don't know anybody who wouldn't give him the time of day, hear him out."

If Dobbs is serious, he'll have to work hard at building relationships with New Jersey leaders, Wilson said.