Kids, even high school age teens, say the darndest things.
Before a press conference where Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley announced the proposed $336M state fiscal year 2014 school construction budget he was surprised by an off-hand question from a student in the audience.
"Are you going to go for a federal job?"Overlea High School sophomore Dominque Carter asked.
The question elicited laughter from the crowd of students, teachers and elected officials.
Carter was asked what position he thought O'Malley should go for.
"President," he replied.
The governor recently finished a term as chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and last year formed a federal political action committee called the "Oh Say Can You See PAC" that is seen as a precursor to a run for federal office in 2016. O'Malley's is barred from running for a third term as governor in 2014.
O'Malley for his part dodged the question saying only that his goal was to do the best possible job in the his position as Maryland's governor.
Carter said that he asked the question because he thought O'Malley would be good at the job.
"I think he has a good role here as governor and he could do a good job as president," Carter said. "I think he had a lot to do with advancement in the state and he could take that to the country."
Suzanne McDermott, who teaches Carter's AP Government class at Overlea High, said that she brought her students to the conference so they could see government in action.
"This was a great opportunity for students to interact with people in government," she said, adding that often students see government officials as "untouchable".
"This really brings them down to earth," she said.