Before Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) made the announcement Thursday that he would appoint former governor Pete Ricketts (R) to the Senate, Pillen made a point of pitching his pick as politically pragmatic. He said he didn’t want a “placeholder” for former Republican senator Ben Sasse’s seat, and he emphasized choosing someone with the strength to hold the seat for many years to come.

The announcement Thursday scans as unsurprising: Ricketts is the most established figure in the Nebraska GOP and supported Pillen as his successor to the governor’s mansion. But the argument about Ricketts’s political strength would have seemed utterly crazy less than two decades ago.

It goes to show how dramatically things can change in politics: With this appointment, Ricketts has completed one of the most remarkable comebacks from a losing Senate campaign in modern American history.

Ricketts made his first run for office in 2006, and it went exceedingly poorly. Despite Republicans targeting a Democratic senator in a red state and having high hopes for the former Ameritrade executive chosen as a challenger, he lost to Sen. Ben Nelson 64 percent to 36 percent.

[I suspect that Ricketts will do better as an incumbent, but it’s worth watching. I’m not sure who else Pillen could have chosen that might have been stronger. — Ed]