Is Jon Kyl Raising His Profile These Days?

By Martin Kady II

(The Politico)  Jon Kyl seems stepping out a bit these days and becoming as familiar with TV green rooms as he is with the Senate cloakrooms.

Kyl, criticized by some colleagues last month in a Politico story about his low public profile as the no. 2 Senate Republican, will make three appearances in 24 hours on national television by the end of today. Kyl hit "Fox and Friends" this morning, just finished an interview with Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC and plans to keep his face in front of the TV lights for another appearance tonight at 5 p.m. on Fox's "America's Election HQ." Kyl had two Fox hits last week and a CNN appearance as well.

Kyl's office says he's always made an effort to appear on Sunday shows, and is near the top of the ranking's in Roll Call's chart that tracks who appears the most on Sunday shows. Kyl has made five Sunday show appearances this year, the same as his counterpart, Democratic whip Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), but lagging behind big-time Sunday talkers like Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.).

Kyl has talked plenty in his TV appearances about the Republican energy plan, but is also developing as a major surrogate for John McCain.

Kyl spokesman Ryan Patmintra says this isn't a new effort by his boss, saying that Kyl has "always been out there" touting the GOP message.