I just don’t see how Burgum can differentiate himself enough from Trump or Desantis. I think he’ll probably be a “rising star” of sorts in the early phase of the primary - I could see a decent chunk of Iowa votors being willing to vote for a prairie state R. I just don’t know how he makes it much further from there.

That said, if his goal is to just get a cabinet position, none of that really matters.

I’m guessing he’s going to target more of the moderate GOP vote who aren’t MAGA Trumpians or huge “culture warriors” like DeSantis, and will focus on the economy as the main issue. Given North Dakota’s growth during his administration and the state of the national economy now, it’s probably his best chance to get anywhere, but I think he just joined too late in too large of a field to really stand anything of a chance overall this time. But running once on a no-chance primary ticket before success on a future try is a GOP right of passage ritual, so if the GOP candidate loses next year and he tries again in '28 he may actually be a legit contender.