Former Republican Senator Scott Brown's latest appearance as a Fox News contributor exemplified the ethically murky middle ground between being a potential political candidate and a news commentator. 

Since his initial hiring by Fox News in 2013, there has been widespread speculation that Brown would return to politics and mount a run for Democrat Jeanne Shaheen's Senate seat in New Hampshire. Both Brown and Fox have mutually benefited from the publicity surrounding his potential run, and have discussed his possible candidacy during his appearances on the network (including his first appearance on-air after renewing his contract last month).

If Brown wants to keep his contributor status, he needs to walk the tightrope of repeatedly toying with the idea of running while not actually taking formal steps to declare his candidacy (in the past, Fox has severed the contracts of contributors once they have filed the requisite paperwork).

Earlier this week, Fox News host Greta Van Susteren tweeted that she was told it is “certain” that Brown is going to run, prompting Brown to deny the report, telling Politico, “I will make my decisions in due course.”

As Brown continues to delay his decision, Fox News is happy to help bolster their employee's potential candidacy. Brown sounded like a candidate today during an appearance on Your World with Neil Cavuto, where he attacked Shaheen and Senate Democrats. He also attempted to prove his New Hampshire bona fides in the wake of carpetbagger criticism.

Cavuto wondered whether Obamacare would be Brown's “issue” if he chose to run, prompting Brown to reply that “it's no secret” he's thinking of getting into the race before launching into speech about “dysfunctional” Washington and how we “need to fix it.”

Cavuto raised the attacks on Brown as a possible “carpetbagger” were he to run in New Hampshire, since he was previously senator in Massachusetts. Brown called the attacks “laughable,” adding “people know that I have long and strong ties to New Hampshire, you know, going back generations” and explaining he has been a resident for “a couple of months.”

Brown then turned to the “real issue,” which was attacking his possible opponent Jeanne Shaheen for joining Democrats in having “rammed” health care reform through Congress.  

Pressed by Cavuto for when he planned to make his decision -- and whether he would make any announcement on Cavuto's show -- Brown was coy as usual, explaining that “I'll make an announcement sooner rather than later.”

In the meantime, Fox is willing to hand him a paycheck while he practices potential stump speeches.