Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack Thomas James VilsackUSDA: Farm-to-school programs help schools serve healthier meals OVERNIGHT MONEY: House poised to pass debt-ceiling bill MORE (D) said in a new interview that Democrats should be careful about courting "rock stars" as 2020 presidential candidates.

“We’re always looking for rock stars but I don’t think the country is looking for rock stars,” Vilsack, who also served as Agriculture secretary under former President Obama, told The New York Times.

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Vilsack also told the Times that it would be "odd" to nominate Rep. Beto O'Rourke Beto O'RourkeJimmy Carter says his son smoked pot with Willie Nelson on White House roof O'Rourke endorses Kennedy for Senate: 'A champion for the values we're most proud of' 2020 Democrats do convention Zoom call MORE (D-Texas) for president, given that he just lost his race for a Senate seat.

"It’s probably a good idea to win the first race you were interested in,” Vilsack said. “Maybe he’s the new Abe Lincoln, you lose a race and then run for president and win.”

Other Democrats have already begun to tout O'Rourke, who emerged as a star on the campaign trail, as a potential candidate in 2020.

For his part, O'Rourke has said that he isn't considering a run for president in 2020, a pledge he doubled down on last week.

“I will not be a candidate for president in 2020,” O’Rourke told MSNBC. “That’s, I think, as definitive as those sentences get.”