You did the right thing" has been the theme of several commentaries published after Gov. John Hoeven announced he would sit out the 2006 election cycle instead of taking on Democratic incumbent Sen. Kent Conrad.
Even prominent Republicans apparently like things the way they are, with Hoeven and Conrad both working for the best interests of North Dakota. Of course, less level-headed Republican partisans - as well as Hoeven himself, possibly - are disappointed and would have favored partisan victory and his rise up the political ladder over the state's welfare.
The truth is, as ambitious as he may be - and he certainly has his sights set on further political office - Hoeven seems increasingly comfortable being governor. Why just last week, he told a joke at the North Dakota Association of Counties meeting!
A year and a half ago, as his re-election campaign was intensifying, he admitted in an interview that he was learning how to communicate better.
At the time, we complained in an analysis of his first term that there was little evidence of it in his meetings with the Capitol press corps. "Concise, spontaneous statements are rare," we said. Instead, interviews and some press conferences continued to be filled with long, cautious statements.
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During his first months in office his comments to reporters about the roller coaster ride his teacher pay bill was on in the Legislature was little more than, "I just want to get the money into the classrooms" repeated for four solid months, including the final night, when he had prevailed.
Back then he didn't seem to take criticism well. Moments after denying he's thin-skinned, Hoeven would ask reporters whether they're writing a "negative" story.
At the time of that interview, close colleagues and friends said the governor's verbose, often worried, demeanor was not the John Hoeven they know.
"He's got an amazing sense of humor. He's an engaging guy. He's got a clever wit. I don't think that plays out (in public)," former aide Drew Wrigley, now U.S. attorney for North Dakota, said back in early 2004. "He can be very, very colorful. He's more measured in public," Wrigley says.
That seems to be changing.
The governor has grown into his job quite noticeably. He seems more at ease. Nervous queries about whether a news story is going to be "negative" have ceased.
Some other recent episodes: A couple of months ago, when the NCAA first announced the University of North Dakota would have to nix their Indian-head Fighting Sioux logo in any tournament play, Hoeven crisply dismissed it as "a big-time overreach."
About the same time, he was quoted on the Devils Lake outlet, which Manitobans say will ruin their waters.
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"It's good politics in Manitoba, particularly in Winnipeg, to be against North Dakota water projects," he jabbed.
Then there was this month's announcement that the next Commerce Department commissioner would be the current deputy, Shane Goettle, who'd been on the job at the department for a matter of weeks - less than two months. It was clear that the deputy had been specially picked as Commissioner Lee Peterson's successor as Peterson prepared to move on after five years in the post.
It was equally clear, then, that Cory Fong had originally been chosen as the Commerce commissioner-in-waiting earlier in the year, when he became the first ever deputy commissioner in the department. And that when Hoeven decided instead to make Fong tax commissioner, a new commissioner-in-waiting had to be found.
So, is that how it all went down? we asked.
"Yes," Hoeven said.
A confident, one word answer.
Increasingly crisp comments and a comfortable informality can only serve him well in his next political move.
And Governor, at age 48, you have plenty of time.
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Cole is The Forum's Capitol correspondent in Bismarck. She can be reached at forumcap@btinet.net
