On MSNBC just now, liberal talk show host Ed Schultz said he was asked by top Democrats in his previous home state of North Dakota to run for the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan — including outreach from Dorgan himself.
“Well last night, when Sen. Dorgan was talking to me, he asked me how old I was, and I went ‘uh oh,'” said Schultz.
“I did get a phone call this morning from Merle Boucher, who’s the [state] House Democratic leader, and he asked me to consider to run for the United States Senate seat in the state of North Dakota,” said Schultz. “I asked him very point blank, ‘Is this an official ask?’ He said ‘Yes, it is.'”
For now at least, Schultz isn’t jumping at the opportunity, pointing to all the work he’s put into his media career.
“I’m flattered, I’m honored. I can’t say that I’m even considering it right now,” said Schultz. “I’ve worked awful hard in my career to get where I am, to go from Fargo to 30 Rock and here at MSNBC. I’ve invested a lot of years to get the microphone to have an opportunity to advocate for the middle class in this country. I’m in a different place right now. So we’re a long way from any consideration, we’re a long way from any kind of decision.”
Schultz didn’t totally close the door on a run, though, and made sure to take some shots at Republican Gov. John Hoeven, who is expected to be the Republican nominee for the seat: “I must say that I personally think he’s vulnerable in a lot of areas. I think he would be easily challenged in a lot of areas. It’s gonna be very intriguing, but at this point I think I’m not even at the point of consideration. We’re a long way from that.”
