Is It Unfair To Expect Governor Hoeven To Make Up His Mind About Running Against Dorgan?

The Williston Herald thinks so:

North Dakota Republican Party chairman Gary Emineth is pressuring Hoeven to decide by early September whether or not he is going to pursue a U.S. Senate race against incumbent Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. A primary reason for the pressure from Emineth is fundraising for the campaign. …
It is truly unfair for Emineth to be pushing Hoeven in the manner that he has been regarding a decision on the Senate race. Money be ditched, Hoeven has earned the right to have a thoughtful and thorough discussion with his family and others regarding such a major decision.
If that doesn’t meet an arbitrary timeline sought by the state GOP exec, so be it.

As far as I’m concerned, Hoeven has “earned” nothing of the sort. The man has done nothing to advance the conservative movement the Republican party – both nationally and in the state of North Dakota – claim to be a part of. What’s more, his much-hyped record as governor is about as shallow as a mud puddle. Hoeven is a tax-and-spend Republican who has not just presided over massive expansions in state government during his term in office, but has actively pushed for those expansions.
His record as a steward for the states economy boils down to little more than taking credit for an economic boom driven not by any policy developed by any politician but rather the simple dumb luck in having vast coal and oil reserves in the state, along with (of late) a string of good growing seasons. The philosophy of government-run economic development, where small public/private boards of unelected local leaders pick and choose which businesses will and will not get taxpayer money and special regulatory treatment, has resulted in a spotty economic record at best. One littered with fraud (Websmart), mediocrity (businesses that stick around as long as their government economic development perks do) and outright failures like Alien Technology.
Plus, Hoeven’s propensity for jumping in front of a television camera to take credit every time Senators Dorgan or Conrad bring home some pork money to the state has turned a lot of people off.
Recently, and presumably in support of his desire to garner conservative supporter for a run against Senator Dorgan, Governor Hoeven has been touting his record as a tax cutter. Yet he has a history of opposing tax cuts in favor of schemes that make it appear as if taxpayers are getting money back even as their money stays in the government.
If Governor Hoeven wants to run against Senator Dorgan, then fine. I think he’ll lose, because right now the mood among Americans is against big-government Republicans who really aren’t all that different from their Democrat counterparts. But NDGOP chairman Gary Emineth is right. Hoeven needs to make up his mind, and soon. Hoeven should either announce his intent, or he should get out of the way so that someone else can begin the fund raising and campaign-building necessary to run a serious campaign against Dorgan.