Scarborough: I won’t run any time soon

Joe Scarborough says he likely won’t run for public office again for another eight years.

In an interview with The Hill, the MSNBC “Morning Joe” host noted that his daughter is 10 years old. Until she graduates from high school, Scarborough will probably stay off the campaign trail.

{mosads}Speculation about the former House member’s future has intensified following the release of his new book, The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics.

Over the past several years, Scarborough has been mentioned as a possible Senate and White House candidate. But the 50-year-old has stressed he is enjoying his day job.

In his book, Scarborough says the GOP must change: “Republicans can kick moderates like General [Colin] Powell out of its party’s mainstream and drive them into the arms of the Democratic Party every four years, or they can leave their ideological comfort zone, work aggressively to expand their political coalitions, and start stealing voters away from Democrats like Hillary Clinton.”

Without a significant shift, Scarborough told The Hill that Clinton will become a two-term president.

He says Republicans should nominate a conservative in 2016, calling Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Mitt Romney — the past two presidential nominees — “moderates.”

The GOP’s standard bearer must be “an ideological small government conservative,” Scarborough said. But he or she must also be pragmatic and make a compelling case on how “our country’s best days are ahead.”

The Right Path, which is Scarborough’s third book, closely examines former President Reagan’s leadership.

Reagan, Scarborough writes, “was a true believing conservative, but he hardly was an extremist.”

He has repeatedly said that Republicans cannot be content in just controlling the gerrymandered House of Representatives.

Scarborough was a vocal critic of the GOP’s tactics during the government shutdown fight, but he declined to criticize Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

“I’m not going to second guess those guys,” Scarborough said, noting that McConnell is in an especially tough position because of his primary and general election races.