“I’m always amused when it is treated as news that governors think that governors make better candidates,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told The Hill on Thursday…

Even governors who once rubbed shoulders as Washington lawmakers are quick to argue voters should look outside D.C. for presidential picks.

“With the deepest respect to my former colleagues, that I am persuaded, having spent 12 years in Congress and two years as a governor, that the cure for what ails this country will come as much from our nation’s state capitals as it ever will from our nation’s capital,” said Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R-Ind.), according to the Associated Press.

Senators readily acknowledge that the nation’s capital is far from a favorite of voters. 

“I get it. When you’re outside of Washington we’re any easy target,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who has said he isn’t running in 2016.  “When you drop down into the single digits in approval rating, it’s a very easy place, I think, for people who are running for national office to go.”