Absentee Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty was in Dallas appearing at a fundraiser to raise his profile as he campaigns for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. A stenographer for the Dallas Morning News caught up with him and asked a few questions:
Jeffers: You are mentioned as a potential 2012 Republican nominee for president. Are you running for president in 2012?
Pawlenty: If there's something to look at for 2012, it's going to be down the road, but it's not now. I'm not ruling it out. I'm just saying I don't know yet.
Pawlenty has been criss-crossing the nation attempting to build credibility within his party. The only reason he might rule it out is the anemic responses he's been getting to his speeches. He may be one of the few non-crazy, scandal-free, high profile Republicans available for 2012, but his flat speeches and lack of charisma might not get him very far.
Jeffers: What do you think about the direction of the Republican Party? What does the GOP have to do to rebound from the losses in 2008?
Pawlenty: Clearly the pendulum is swinging back from Democrats to independents and conservatives.
But we can't have as a strategic plan and a message for the future of this country that President [Barack] Obama continues to goof up. In addition to that, we have to have our own positive agenda for the future of the country.
America is in trouble. The country yearns for a return to basic American common sense. There's a sense that certain elites get bailed out, others in need get a handout, and everybody else gets their wallet out. They want to know, what's the future of this country?
"Swinging pendulums" is an interesting metaphor for him to use. America began its rightward swing with Reagan, briefly interrupted by Clinton, but quickly (in '94) returned to its rightward swing culminating in the ruinous administration of George W. Bush. So after roughly 30 years of swinging to the right, America will swing leftwards for a year (arguably 3 if you consider the landslide elections vicories of 2006) and then start swinging the other way?
It's very possible that Karl Rove's dream of 100 years of one-party rule will happen ... just not how Karl imagined it.
"Obama continues to goof up" is also an interesting turn of phrase. Beginning to fix an economy ruined by 30 years of Republican domination isn't going to happen in 1 year. Of course, Pawlenty may consider "goofing up" to mean stimulating an economy that was plunging into depression. Pawlenty's solution of stopping spending which he's been attempting to implement in MN is simply neo-Hooverism.
Finally, it's interesting that he's blaming Obama for the bail-outs that George W. Bush started, the Republicans in Congress supported and Obama continued. I actually agree with him if when he says "bailing out the elites" he means the too large to fail banks and not the auto industry.
2012 Republican presidential candidate and occasional Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty made a rare visit to Minnesota to give his final State of the State address. His presentation was ackward as he isn't very good at reading off of teleprompters and his jokes fell flat. In particular, his mullet joke to begin his speech was greeted with silence.
What @TimPawlenty's speech was missing in substance it made up for by lacking in substance. #MNsots
One thing is certain. Presidential candidate Pawlenty wants more tax cuts. He believes that only private created jobs are good ... dismisses police, teachers and etc. as good jobs. Yet at the same time, he talked about how much he luvs him some teachers. Of course, he fails to mention that he's consistently slashed education budgets to the bone and worse.
MN-GOV candidate and Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson-Kelliher summed it all up with this pithy quote:
"We can clearly see from this speech that the axe will be back."
Furthermore, Pawlenty insists that a constitutional budget amendment is a priority. Sen. Pogemiller is willing to discuss this and is willing to have hearings.
Finally, Sen. Pogemiller reminded the media that Pawlenty's unallotments were job killers as many, many Minnesotans have lost their jobs as government agencies have been forced to lay off.
Some of the best tweets from people watching/listening after the fold ...
Via Talking Points Memo, Pawlenty's presidential hopes don't look too good in his home state.
The poll asked: "Suppose Governor Tim Pawlenty runs for President in 2012 and wins the Republican nomination. If Pawlenty was the Republican Presidential candidate, would you vote for him?" The answer was only 37% yes, 46% no. This down from a 42%-46% margin, when Rasmussen previously asked this same question of Minnesotans two months ago.
I asked Alex Conant, spokesman for Pawlenty's Freedom First PAC, for comment on whether Pawlenty would have difficulty carrying his home state, and whether he would intend to compete there. "It's absurdly early to be contemplating, let alone polling, the 2012 landscape," said Conant. "Gov. Pawlenty is focused on balancing Minnesota's budget, finishing his term strong, and helping elect Republicans in this fall's elections."
That 37% is just a few points higher than the statewide Republican base, so Pawlenty is staring a pretty bad home-state trend in the face.
Craig Stellmacher continues the Uptake of tradition of interviewing the audience, not just filming the main event. Especially note that prevalence of the dream ticket of Palin/Bachmann for 2012. Note how many people thought that Sarah Palin's solution to Afghanistan would a quick get in/get out war. Some people even believe that economy would be fixed immediately under Sarah.
Ouch. The guy can't even get his own state onboard with his quixotic presidential ambitions. Maybe it's time to get back to work in Minnesota?
A majority of Minnesotans don't want to see Gov. Tim Pawlenty run for president in 2012, but nearly as many say they would give him a look if he were nominated, according to a Star Tribune Minnesota Poll.
The poll shows that only 30 percent of adults want to see the two-term governor make a try for the White House three years from now, while 55 percent do not.
But in a mixed message for Pawlenty, 25 percent of Minnesotans said there was a "good chance" they would vote for him if he became the GOP nominee, while another 25 percent said there was at least "some chance" they would vote for him. A solid 43 percent said there was no chance they would vote for a President Pawlenty.
I said it in yesterday's post: with the proper amount of hard work at voter ID and GOTV on the part of DFLers statewide, Minnesota is off the table in presidential races for the time being -- especially with Barack Obama at the head of the ticket. Amy Klobuchar will win too -- by a lot -- but there are plenty of ticket-splitters across the state, so that alone won't hurt a GOP presidential nominee. The statewide blue tilt in our most populous areas should be more than enough to do the trick.
Pollster Larry Hugick said the down economy may have hurt Pawlenty's approval ratings, but noted there is little comfort for Pawlenty in the rest of the poll numbers -- especially the 55 percent who don't want him to run for president.
I wonder how closely that 55% would sync up with agreeable answers to "I want a Governor who cares about what happens to the state that elected him" and "Tim Pawlenty isn't that guy." My guess is "pretty closely."
Update: Oh, I almost forgot -- before anyone from any Southern Regional Reactionary Party organization starts screaming about ZOMGZ STAR TRIBUNE STAR AND SICKLE SOCIALIST POLL ZOMGZZZZZZ!, let's remember that back in 2006, they took a lot of heat for predicting shortly before the election that Amy Klobuchar would get about 56% of the vote, more than any other poll predicted. Turns out they were just a tad low. Their methodology is pretty sound.
Dusty Trice got the scoop! Here's what Dusty has to say about his video, as posted on YouTube:
EXCLUSIVE: Ron Paul explains why the MN GOP suddenly needs his help: "They Want My Money."
The MN GOP blocked Ron Paul from speaking at their 2008 convention in Rochester, MN. But on Sept. 25, 2009 the MN GOP sponsored an appearance by Dr. Paul at Northrup Auditorium in what was billed as a joint town hall with Congresswoman Michele Bachmann.
What's behind the MN GOP's sudden change of heart? According to Ron Paul, "They want my money. They want to get a little bit of influence from our supporters, too."
I think this says a lot about Ron Paul, who's been a consistent voice for what he believes in, so much so that he was willing to forget the past troubles with the MN GOP.
I also thinks this speaks volumes about the MN GOP. Their leadership realizes that they have alienated roughly 15% of their party. Now they realize that Michele Bachmann is actually in trouble and the only way to save her is to turn to the person they publicly shunned and beg for his money and help.
The MN GOP is exploiting Ron Paul because they are terrified without his support they will lose and lose big.
On a side note, I'd like to thank Congressman Paul for taking moment to speak with me. (DustyTrice)
Let's watch!!!
I'll have my own thoughts about Dusty's breaking story later, for now, link here for Mary Lahammer's May 30th, 2008 report from the 2008 MnGOP State Convention - the footage of the floor scuffle between a Ron Paul supporter and a McCain suporter is "must see TV" - great job by Mary Lahammer and the Twin Cities Public Television team!!!
An analysis of the 2008 election results reveals a stark truth for Republican candidates looking for Obama states to flip in 2012: Minnesota won't be one of them, even if Tim Pawlenty is the Republican nominee.
Other news from the analysis: corn fields don't vote.
I took the county-by-county results and sorted them by size -- that is, the counties that produced the highest vote totals at the top, and those with the lowest totals at the bottom. Hennepin, Ramsey, Dakota, and Anoka county came out at the top, and way down at the bottom were Lake of the Woods, Red Lake, and Traverse counties.
I then produced what I'm calling "10-County-iles" -- groups of 10 counties each along the axis of this ranking, and calculated how many votes of the 2.9 million cast came from each "C-ile". The results are intuitive: the top C-ile, containing the aforementioned four counties plus Washington, St. Louis, Stearns, Olmstead, Scott, and Wright counties, produced a staggering 65% of the statewide vote -- and in those areas, President Obama beat John McCain with 57.5% of the vote.
That is what we can safely call an insurmountable advantage.
In the other 35% of the electorate, Obama held his own, getting between 45% and 50% in all remaining C-iles. For John McCain to have beaten Obama's advantage in the most populous counties, he would have had to won in all other areas with more than 63% of the vote -- which is darned near impossible.
Ok, in past postings I have been saying that NOW is the time to tell the rest of the nation that Gov. Pawlenty should not be promoted to President. Now is the time to be concerned about those middle voters who can be swayed either way.
I have created a Facebook group, so we can begin to tell the rest of the Nation not to let Pawlenty's politics leave Minnesota for the White House.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) lives in a world filled with malevolent conspiracies against her, against conservatives and against our country. She collects them like the rest of us collect paychecks, about twice a month. Her latest is a doozy concerning her delusions of grandeur: She thinks she has a chance to become President.
BACHMANN: Also with women politicians, they want to make sure no women, no woman becomes president before a Democrat woman, and so they're doing everything they can to, I think, sabotage women like Sarah Palin, perhaps women like myself, or similarly situated women, to make sure that we don't have a prominent national voice. But the thing is, the people in our country, they don't care who the voice is, they just want someone, they want to know that someone is speaking out for them against what will certainly bring about the destruction of our great country if we continue to go down the Obama path.
2012 Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is continuing to try and build his national image by fundraising for an ethically-challenged New Jersey Republican. Chris Christie is currently the NJ Attorney General who is running for NJ Governor. Christie is surrounded by scandals involving steering contracts to cronies, an improper lawsuit settlement which benefitted his alma mater and for politically motivated prosecutions that benefitted Republicans. Christie is also well-known in NJ for illegal stock trading.
"Minnesotans are used to Governor Pawlenty traveling around the country to raise money for ultra-conservatives, cull favor with the Washington elite, and carry water for the big-insurance companies. But today's trip to New Jersey to rally support for the ethically challenged gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie is yet another low.
"Given Governor Pawlenty's own troubles with financial disclosures and transparency, it's not surprising - but it is disappointing - that he would mentor former U.S. Attorney Christie, who has repeatedly failed to live up to his own standards on integrity. And sadly, it's just business as usual for Republicans as Governor Pawlenty makes his way down the East Coast to rally support for unimpressive candidates while he teaches other Republicans how to cover over their ethical lapses."
(DFL Party press release email)
Gosh ... I'd forgotten all about Pawlenty's improprieties. Too bad he had to go and remind me that he's just as crooked as any other Republican politician.
I could not believe my eyes when I read the Tim Pawlenty was going to Brazil to sell Minnesota dairy and beef products:
Minn. ag commissioner to join Pawlenty in Brazil by Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio,August 22, 2009
St. Paul, Minn. - Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson said he will join Governor Pawlenty on a trade mission to Brazil later this year Hugoson is also traveling to China next week in an effort to market meat products.Hugoson said international trade is critical to the survival of Minnesota farmers. ... He said he hopes to find markets in Brazil to export Minnesota dairy products and dairy production technology.
(MPR)
I was a dairy farmer, so I know that Brazil exports meat and dairy products! While there are specialty cows for just beef, dairy cows are also sold as beef. Republican governor Pawlenty is trying to export beef and dairy products to one of the worlds leading exporters of beef and dairy. It does not get stupider than that!
Modern Beef Production in Brazil and Argentina
by Carlos Steiger
Brazil is a leading player in the beef, poultry, and pork world markets. Focused attention has now been placed on dairy production as well...
Brazil produces predominantly lower-value, slower-growing, and less well-muscled grass-fed beef... While Brazil is the world leader in beef exports by quantity...
Normally one would have expected the economic news of the economy to have been the big driver of vote changes in the last presidential election findings. Surprise, some opinions based on recent studies say it was not.
It is clear from the daily tracking in the National Annenberg Election Survey (NAES) that the crisis made the economy far and away the most important and troubling issue for voters. But the effect of national economic perceptions on voters' evaluations of candidates and vote intentions actually shrank after September 15. The election seemed to draw attention away from economic troubles rather than toward them. The NAES also confirms, as Gelman and Sides note, that the Democratic share of vote intentions turned up before the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
Now to be fair, the economic news could have been a vote changer except the news about Palin was changing people's mind first. So the economic news may have just solidified people's opinions.
Throughout the rest of the campaign, vote intentions were closely tied to Palin's approval ratings: each major Palin approval drop was followed, within a day or two, by a drop in McCain vote intention. No other factor moved McCain support with such precision. Comparison of the correlation between running mate approval ratings and vote intentions from 2000 and 2004 confirms Palin's peculiar importance in 2008.
2012 Republican Presidential hopeful, lame-duck Governor of Minnesota and occasional resident of MN Tim Pawlenty came back to Minnesota for Farmfest. Farmfest takes place every year in Redwood County in southwestern MN and politicians flock to it.
Pawlenty is notorious for saying different things to different people and for having different opinions at different times.
With a down-home message tailored to his rural audience, Pawlenty extolled the economic benefits of Minnesota-produced alternative energy and decried the expense of government-funded social welfare programs.
"We've got to build more transmission lines," Pawlenty said, referring to transmitting electric power from wind turbines, whose towers are popping up in western Minnesota. "We got to get that stuff built."
He defended corn-based ethanol, a fuel promoted and subsidized by the state. While it has been criticized elsewhere for driving up food prices, corn ethanol production has plenty of support in rural areas.
(Avista Capital Partners' Star Tribune)
At a venue like this, nobody is going to point out that Pawlenty has consistently opposed alternative energy bills. He may talk about how important alternative energy is, but he's opposed bills to strengthen our alternative energy economy.
Unless, of course, you think things like coal gasificiation and nuclear power are alternative energy.
2012 Presidential candidate, occasional Minnesota resident and lame-duck Governor of MN Tim Pawlenty wrote an op-ed in yesterday's Washington Post. He was touting he well we do in MN keeping health care costs down. He was probably figuring nobody would look closely into what he was bragging about.
He may very well have been advocating for the same government-run health care he so strongly opposes.
AFSCME Council 5, the largest union representing state-government employees, is finding some irony in Gov. Tim Pawlenty's opinion piece on health-care reform in Sunday's Washington Post.
"In Minnesota," the governor writes, "our state employee health-care plan has demonstrated incredible results by linking outcomes to value. State employees in Minnesota can choose any clinic available to them in the health-care network they've selected. However, individuals who use more costly and less-efficient clinics are required to pay more out-of-pocket."
Pawlenty, a Republican who many anticipate will run for president in 2012, notes the cost savings and flat premiums. "The payoff is straightforward: For two of the past five years, we've had zero percent premium increases in the state employee insurance plan."
The liberal-leaning union says it agrees with Pawlenty that the State Employee Group Insurance Plan, which is run by the Minnesota Management and Budget agency, should be a model for national reform.
(MinnPost)
Yep. That's right. Pawlenty is advocating for government-run health care. The rarified air of national politics must be confusing the poor guy.
Perhaps here is why many people thought that unallotment was an empty threat! Balancing the budget through unallotment would violate the rules under which federal dollars match state dollars, resulting in loss of federal matching dollars beyond the unallotment. In this case that meant $72 million of lost federal funding beyond the unallotment.
The amount of $72 million comes from Commissioner Hanson's letter. Check out the copy of MN Government letter from Hanson. An short excerpt is highlighted here from Appendix A.
All Republican Governor Pawlenty had to do was come to the bargaining table and give up something to reach a better overall outcome to keep that $72 Million in federal matching funds. I guess what was best for Minnesota would not have made a good sound bite in Pawlenty's 2012 campaign speeches!
