Senator John Hoeven Won't Answer Questions About Running For President

He’s not saying he’s running for President, but he’s not saying he’s not running either.

Newsmax TV’s Steve Malzberg grilled Hoeven about his future political aspirations on Tuesday, but he was repeatedly rebuffed.

“I’m just trying to do my job as a senator and see if we can’t get this economy going and growing and get this debt and deficit under control,” Hoeven told Malzberg when the issue was raised.

But Malzberg — impressed with Hoeven’s record of public service, which also includes a stint as North Dakota’s governor from 2000 to 2010 and as president of the Bank of North Dakota — wasn’t satisfied.

So he tried another approach, this time asking the Bismarck-born politician whether he has positively ruled out a bid for the White House.

“Like I said, that’s not something I’m focused on or looking at at this point,” Hoeven said.

“I’m looking at seeing if we can get the Congress working.”

This seems unlikely. As popular as Hoeven is in North Dakota, he’s relatively unknown outside of the state and isn’t likely to stand out from other more charismatic candidates.

If anything, I’d say Hoeven would be a more likely VP pick, though even there he doesn’t bring a lot to the table. A presidential candidate picks a running mate usually to fulfill some gap in his/her own political appeal, either geographically or demographically. Hoeven is a white dude, and I’m not sure many national elections swing on the North Dakota vote.

But still, odd that he wouldn’t say he’s not running.