AOL News has a new home! The Huffington Post.

Click here to visit the new home of Politics Daily!

Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories

MAIL

Politics Daily

Obama: Allies Will Soon Take Control of Libyan Campaign
- Politics Daily Staff
Democrats Could Lose Senate, Biden Warns Party
- Politics Daily Staff
South Dakota Governor Signs Tough Abortion Bill Into Law
- Politics Daily Staff
Obama Getting Heat From Left and Right for U.S. Role in Libyan Attacks
- Politics Daily Staff
Allied Airstrikes Buoy Libyan Rebels; Obama Stresses Limited Military Goal
- Politics Daily Staff
Opposition Rises to Increased Nuclear Power Use; Offshore Drilling Support Rebounds
- Bruce Drake
French Warplanes Enforcing Ceasefire in Libya After Gadhafi Keeps Up Attacks
- Politics Daily Staff
Economic Issues Underpin Obama's Trip to Brazil, Chile, El Salvador
- Politics Daily Staff
Obama to Gadhafi: Stop the Attacks or Face Military Action
- Politics Daily Staff
House to Consider Bill to Defund National Public Radio
- Politics Daily Staff
New Fire Breaks Out at Damaged Japanese Nuclear Plant
- Carla Baranauckas
Japanese Nuclear Power Plant Rocked by Second Explosion in Quake's Aftermath
- Carla Baranauckas and Bruce Drake

FEED

Tim Pawlenty: Man of the Moment for a New GOP?

1 year ago

0 Comments Say Something »

Text Size

Contributor

I first met Tim Pawlenty when he came by for an interview with Newsweek reporters and editors at the 2008 Republican Convention in Minnesota. He had been passed over for the vice presidency, and the slight was still raw. You could tell he was hurting -- more by his body language than anything he said. He walked us through the vice-presidential vetting process, which for him was quite extensive, as questions swirled about how much the Republican nominee, John McCain, knew about Sarah Palin, his surprise pick, and the pregnancy of her teenage daughter, which dominated news coverage as the convention got under way.

The consensus around the table after an hour with Pawlenty was that McCain had made the wrong decision in passing over the solid and serious Midwesterner in favor of a mystery woman with soap-opera baggage. l don't think McCain could have won the election regardless of who he picked, but if he'd chosen Pawlenty, he would have positioned a next-generation candidate who is more plausible as a nominee with broad appeal than Palin, whose passionate following is restricted to a relatively small sliver of the electorate.

My next encounter with Pawlenty was at an education-reform meeting last year where he shared top billing with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, aligning himself with the Obama administration's "Race to the Top" initiatives. I remember thinking that while he's a conservative, he's not in the far-right camp that once fantasized abolishing the Department of Education. And when he met with reporters in Washington Monday morning at a breakfast organized by the Christian Science Monitor, among the points he made was that he comes from the state that produced Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, Jesse Ventura, Paul Wellstone and Al Franken, among other progressive icons. "I'm a bit of an interloper as a conservative Republican," he noted.

His message, delivered throughout the hour-long breakfast, is that he can co-exist and even thrive outside the GOP's comfort zone. He goes down easy even when he's embracing his party's right-wing dogma. He's "Minnesota Nice," as my colleague Jill Lawrence points out. That could be a handicap in today's ruthless politics, but it could also serve him well with an electorate tired of the rhetorical baiting that politicians do, and it could preserve relationships within the GOP to secure him a spot on the ticket in the event he falls short of winning the nomination.
He's hoping to ride the new diversity wave within the GOP, stressing that he's not a CEO like you-know-who (He didn't mention Mitt Romney by name; he didn't have to). Pawlenty is working class, the son of a truck driver. Of his other major rival, Sarah Palin, whom he did mention by name, he said she can wait longer than others to declare her intentions.

He'll make a decision early next year, but in reality he's already made the decision – devoting the next two years to full-time running, the playbook that Jimmy Carter as an unknown former governor with time on his hands successfully pioneered in 1974-'76. At this point, Pawlenty seems as unlikely as Carter did (Jimmy who?), but at the very least, given the swing state he's from and those working-class roots, he could continue the Minnesota tradition. The state has produced two vice presidents, Humphrey and Mondale, and as a reporter noted, the perennial presidential candidate, the late Harold Stassen, hailed from the same St. Paul area as Pawlenty. "He probably ran too many times but we're proud of him," Pawlenty said, sounding like a man who knows what it's like to be passed over, but then again, given his state's history, maybe the third time is the charm. "Who best to open the door to people not yet Republicans?" he said, a line that he offered as a criteria for selecting the next GOP nominee and which happens to sum up his pitch to be the one.

Filed Under: Republicans, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Republican Convention, Sarah Palin, 2012 President, Woman Up, Conservatives

Tagged: 2008 presidential race, Al Franken, Arne Duncan, Hubert Humphrey, Jesse Ventura, Jimmy Carter, Minnesota progressivee, Minnesota progressives, Paul Wellstone, Walter Mondale

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

Sign in »

4 Comments

Filter by:

parkepoint

Mr. Pawlenty has been at the forefront of "cutting taxes" while replacing them with "fees". In reality, I was better off (as was the education system in Minnesota) paying taxes. Then, Mr. Pawlenty claimed he had cut taxes for Minnesotans but neglected to mention that the tax "cuts" were more than offset by the new "fees". His name does not belong in the same article with the likes of Paul Wellstone, Walter Mondale, Al Franken and especially not with Hubert Humphrey. I could never vote for Mr. Pawlenty for anything after watching him veto bills that could have helped the least fortunate in Minnesota and then acting as though he had done everyone in Minnesota a favor.

July 28 2010 at 11:18 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

yogikwaj

Pawlenty is one of the most crooked politicians ever to be elected in the state of Minnesota. Now that the corrupt relationship between old Northwest Airlines and the FAA inspectors is coming to light, how long will it be until someone reveals information about the money changing hands to keep the unemployment compensation funds from the LOCKED OUT mechanics, there by crippling the locked out mechanics efforts to keep good paying jobs in Minnesota. When the truth comes out "Timmy Boy" will be looking to try to stay out of Federal prison and I want to be there in the court room for his trial. Pawlenty and the owners of old Northwest Airlines successfully conspired to drive 10,000 good high paying jobs out of Minnesota. No one knows what damage (Timmy Boy) Pawlenty will do to the United States if we do not bring him to task for what he did to the old Northwest Airlines mechanics.

July 27 2010 at 6:15 PM Report abuse Permalink +2 rate up rate down Reply

1 reply to yogikwaj's comment

christierandall

I did not know of this...but why would he want to drive 10,000 good jobs out of his state...that does not make sense to me. I am a liberal but I like to be fair. Were there any articles about this deal with Northwest Airlines?
He was re-elected in 06 after he made some fee changes so I am guessing that the majority liked him. But it does appear he is slipping in polls. However,
the GOP is desparate to find "the right" candidate to run against Obama in
2012. So they may reinvent him so to speak.

Among voters in Minnesota in May 2008, Pawlenty had a 53% approval rating as Minnesota governor, with 46% disapproving. In the same poll, 61% of Minnesotans thought he shouldn't run for president.[114] In April 2009, 46% approved of Pawlenty, while 40% disapproved.[115]

Among registered Republicans nationwide in July 2009, 38% had a favorable view of him while 33% didn't.[116]

July 28 2010 at 5:26 PM Report abuse Permalink -4 rate up rate down Reply