HELENA -- Jon Tester, the Democratic Senate candidate threatening to upset a sitting Montana senator, dismissed a potential Hillary Clinton presidential candidacy in favor of a more moderate candidate.

Tester, speaking to The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview Thursday, said he was disappointed to hear centrist and former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner dropped out as a potential party candidate in 2008. Tester said he would like to see someone like New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson get the nod.

''That's a tough question; I don't know them personally,'' Tester said of who among the potential candidates he would support. ''I like Richardson down in New Mexico. Other than that I really can't say.''

Warner announced Thursday that he would not run as a Democratic candidate for president in 2008, saying he wanted ''a real life'' and feared the impact of a drawn-out campaign on his family.

Asked whether he found Clinton, widely considered the front-runner for the nomination, appealing as a candidate, Tester said ''I don't think she does much'' for him.

Tester has taken a slim lead in recent polls over GOP Sen. Conrad Burns, as Tester runs a populist campaign that combines a message of tax cuts for the middle class with a promise to push for a balanced federal budget.

The AP has invited Burns to participate in an interview similar to Thursday's with Tester. Burns has neither accepted nor declined the invitation.

Tester said it's time Democrats from the interior West make their presence known on the national stage. Democratic Gov. Brian Schweitzer, in Washington, D.C., again this week, has received accolades and national attention for his ideas on energy development and ability to court conservative voters.

''I think, of course I am a little biased in this, but I think if, particularly from the intermountain West, if you can get some good Democrats going, it will help the country,'' Tester said.

Tester described himself as fiscally conservative and ''socially conscious'' and said it's not unusual for him to disagree with national party leaders on issues. He opposes the party's position on gun control, for instance, and said he also opposes gay marriage -- although he would not vote to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban it, and would support certain allowances for gay couples.

The national party has had very little interaction with Tester's campaign, something Tester said was intentional. He made it clear early in the campaign against Burns that he wanted a ''Montana campaign,'' he said. It was a message heard loud and clear by the national party, he added.

''They have not interfered with this campaign at all,'' Tester said. He said he does get an occasional call of encouragement from national Democrats, but it rarely goes beyond ''asking how the dog is doing.''