Came here over 100 years ago, came here in pursuit of the american dream, and that animates people all over the world, they want to come to this country. But we have to, i think, take whats been great about this country and continue to build on that foundation, and my fear is people get despondent and discouraged and they need leaders that can that can draw out what i think is what i think is best about this country. To me, i go back to but when i was coming of age we were in a period of our nations history and people were discouraged and despon sent, president reagan had a way of pulling out of americans what is uniquely american. What is so exceptional about our country. You were mentioned as a potential 2008 and 2012 vicepresident ial candidate. Did you go through the vetting process . Not the final stages, i think i was perhaps on some lists but i think in both circumstances, there were people that probably met more of the criteria their that our nominees were looking for to bring the right balance to the ticket. It certain he obviously any time you have an opportunity to serve your country, you want to be open to it but i dont think it was probably ever on the real short, serious consideration list. Have you given any thought to running for president . I looked at in it 2012 as we headed into that election. You know, its again, i think that i like the day job. I have plenty of work to do in the senate. But you always want to take your abilities and talents and gift and put them to their highest and best use to serve your country and your fellow man system of we at least gave some Due Diligence into taking a look at it. Its formidable in terms of what you have to raise, the financial commitments are enormous in modern politics, that was certainly a barrier as we looked at it. I think you also have to have a burning desire a burning passion to do something for your country and, you know, i think thats a question you have to do a gut check on before you pull the trigger and proceed with a national campaign. Ive never quite got to that point. But it certainly was something we gave at least some consideration to. So where are you right now . Where is your gut . I think weve got part of it too, i think there has to be an opening. Weve got some people who are really qualified, terrific governors an members of congress who are all, i think, taking a hard look at it this time. And many of them are going to be probably comparable to where i would be in terms of ideology and experience and that sort of thing. So you know, i think that politics is always about timing. And i told people this and id be less than honest if i said i if i said otherwise but you never rule it out. I think you have to keep options open. I never thought id be doing this, when i was growing up in myrtle, south dakota. But sometimes opportunities come your way and i think that you have to be prepared for that and obviously look at how you think you can put your gifts to their highest and best use. How does job thune make a decision, when john thune make a decision, when youre looking at a bill, an issue, whats the process . The issues were dealing with here, the world has gotten very complecated. Theres a lot of information coming at you on any particular bill or any particular vote so you surround yourself with good people, people who understand your basic philosophy, and hopefully are keeping themselves very informed on the issues. But then you have to spend a lot of time getting informed. I think in most cases, your decisions are sort of shaped by two things. One is, your sort of core values, conscience, whatever you want to call it. And secondly, informed by the people you represent. You have to stay very much in step with and understand the core of the people you represent on any given issue and thats a process of being out there, listening a lot, we get a lot of emails a lot of phone calls, a lot of mail in the office, you have a pretty good sense of where your constituency is on any given day and that factors heavy into the Decision Making process. I think its kind of your core, your gut. Sometimes it comes down to just basically, you know, whats my conviction on this particular issue . You have two daughters a soninlaw and a future soninlaw. Right. Describe your kids. My daughters are, you know, i adore them. Theyve been the delight of my life. And when we were having children, my wife and i, i walls wanted to have the little athlete that little boy but having had girls i wouldnt trade it for neg. Theyve been weve been very involved in their lives other the years. Theyve had to put up with a lot, they grew up in a political family and all that comes with that, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hopefully theyre not too jaded by it. But theyre just really, really good girls. Were very grateful, you know, to have had the opportunity to have them in our lives lives and now one of them is married to a great go, the other one is engaged to a great guy, so were going to have sonsinlaw, thats a new stage in life a new chapter. But it goes fast. I tell people, dont blink because those kids, you know, one day youre going to their events and going to that piano recital or that soccer game or that track meet and then bomb, all of a sudden, theyre in college and then theyre coming home and saying, dad, im engaged system of those are theyre all special times. But i wouldnt trade it for anything. Whats next for you . What do you want to do in the senate . What are your goals . I really like i said, i enjoy the work. When i was here as a staffer, i just kind of had an affinity for dealing with some of these national issues. From the time i was a staffer here, i did budget and well, tax, small business, those types of issues for senator abner. Ive always had an interest in economic and fiscal issues. I would like to be part of solutions to get our country become on track fiscally, im concerned about the enormous amount of debt were piling up and handing on to our chern and grandchildren, about getting the economy back to a place where were growing at a faster rate, creating more jobs, increasing takehome pay for people across this country and creating a better standard of living a better quality of life. Thats what my grandfather who came here did for my dad an his generation and my dad and his generation sacrificed so we could have a better quality of life and i really fear that we may be the first generation of americans for whom thats not true, the next generation may actually have, you know, a lower quality of life than what weve had. And i just think that, you know, were weve got some big challenges, its going to require courage, its going to require a willingness, i think, for people to come together around a common purpose, and not unlike what has motivated previous generations when we faced big challenges, but id like to be part of those solutions and to me, its mainly focused on those fiscal and Economic Issues that i think are just so vital to the future of this country. Let me conclude on a couple of personal issues. You were an avid runner in high school and college. Do you run today . I run when i can but ive got a foot injury right now, ive been sidelined, i miss it an ive been trying to do other things. Running is a great outlet for me. It cleared my head. I started running again i ran track in high school and you know, had some success with it. But i really took it up again when my daughters started run, they were competing in track and cross country, started running with them. My oldest daughter, who became a very accomplished runner, i remember running with her when she was younger and having to break stride to allow her to keep up and then i remember as she got faster and better, her having to break stride to allow me to keep up. Thats a tough thing for a dad to get to that stage in life but i enjoy it. I think that, you know, fitness and exercise is a great thing. Especially in this lifestyle we have here, there are just so many things coming at you every single day, it really does, its a very, i think, cleansing thing to be to the get out and be able to do it. I miss running daytoday. I hope to get back to it at some point. You know, just all that comes with it. In terms of logistics, south dakota is not the easiest place to get to and from. How do you to that . The congressional schedule in many cases, those of us who do go back and forth will go out after the last votes of the week. Whenever congress is in session, im here. When im out when were out of session, im back in the state, or traveling elsewhere as necessary. But we go generally through minneapolis into sioux falls, occasion ll through chicago. You get used to it. It gets built into your schedule. You develop a rhythm around it. But ive never travel is tiring. I typically get asked the question, whats the best part and worst part of your job, i tell people the worst part sometimes is getting and from it. But its what is getting to and from it. But its what i signed up for. You build into your week and your schedule, its something you do and you make the most of the timism use the time when im on a plane to do a lot of my signing, reading, some of the light work, trying to catch up and get ready for everything thats coming up in that week. If you have a chance to listen to music, what to you listen to . I grew up, i was a rocker in the 1970s and 1980s. So you know, a lot of those old 1980s bands, i really enjoy. Some of them oddly enough are reforming and starting to play again. I catch a lot of those concerts. Country music, i developed an affinity for that. And partly i had a daughter who went to belmont in nashville. If you grow up in south dakota youre around Country Music all the time but my wife and i became Country Music fans and weve always been christian music fans, there are some great christian artists we listen to. My wife is musical, she played the piano, both of us sang. And you know, our girls, particularly britney sings a lot, larissa does too. Its been a part of our family. I enjoy all kinds of different varieties of muse ex. When you think of your formative years and the things you listen to, those are probably the bands that come to mind first. That takes me back to the days of my misspent youth. If you have a chance to read a book, what book are you reading now or books . What do you enjoy reading . Were all kind of wired in different ways and you know, because my life is politics and you live this life, its more than just work, i read a lot of stuff thats oriented around, you know, political stories, history, always been a big fan of history and you know, right now, im actually reading the ook killer angels, michael sharras book. The movie gettysburg is based on this book. Its a period of great interest to me, always been, had a great interest in the civil war, and you know, as a kid, growing up, and that sort of followed me through life tha