Candidate - Tim Pawlenty

[Geee]

Is Pawlenty Plenty?-Thomas Sowell

 

The Republicans' confused assortment of announced presidential candidates-- as well as unannounced candidates and distant possibilities of candidates-- seems to be clarifying somewhat. The withdrawal of Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee, as well as the withdrawal of much of Newt Gingrich's staff, seems like a much-needed weeding-out process.

 

Although Mitt Romney has been leading in the polls, his lead over other potential rivals has been slim. Being a "front-runner" this far ahead of next year's nominating convention would not mean much, even if Governor Romney's lead and his support were much bigger than they are.

 

The albatross around Romney's neck is the RomneyCare medical plan that he signed into law in Massachusetts. His refusal to repudiate RomneyCare means that, as a presidential candidate, he would forfeit one of the strongest argument against Barack Obama, who has ObamaCare as his albatross.

 

Nor is an about-face on RomneyCare a viable option for Mitt Romney. He has already done too many other about-faces for the voters to be likely to trust him after another. He has painted himself into a corner.

 

Articulate Newt Gingrich might be the best Republican to go toe-to-toe with Obama in presidential debates-- and a lack of effective articulation has been the Republicans' big weakness for years. Try to name a Republican renowned for his articulation, besides Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.

 

While Newt Gingrich is not at that level, he is definitely a cut above most Republican candidates in talking. He also represents a cherished moment in Republican history, when they took the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years, as a result of Gingrich's "contract with America" election strategy.

 

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44153

[Geee]

Pawlenty says could have, should have gone after Romney in debate

 

 

After a couple days of insisting that he didn’t understand what the “kerfuffle” was, Tim Pawlenty finally owned up to having messed up in the debate by refusing to attack Romney and doubled down on his attacks of the former governor of Massachusetts’ health care program.

 

In an interview with Sean Hannity Thursday night, Pawlenty said he should have been more direct in his criticism of Romneycare.

 

“I should’ve been much more clear during the debate, Sean,” Pawlenty said. “I don’t think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of Obamacare and has continued to defend it.”

 

“He really laid the groundwork for Obamacare,” Pawlenty added.

 

“I don’t think you can prosecute the political case against President Obama if you are a co-conspirator in one of the main charges against the president on a political level,” he said.

 

“I understand Governor Romney’s argument that it’s different at the state level, but when you look at these two plans with only modest variations, they’re pretty similar and nearly identical,” Pawlenty said.

 

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/16/pawlenty-says-could-have-should-have-gone-after-romney-in-debate/

[Valin]

NRO: Minnesota Onstage

Kathryn Jean Lopez

6/7/11

 

Minneapolis attorney Scott Johnson has been a blogging powerhouse since he launched the Power Line group blog in 2002. With two Republican presidential contenders hailing from Minnesota — former governor Tim Pawlenty and congresswoman Michele Bachmann — he talked to NRO this week about the North Star pols and other assorted political questions of the hour.

 

 

Kathryn Jean Lopez: Did you ever think you’d live to see the day where two Minnesotans would be popular Republican primary contenders?

 

Scott Johnson: In 1968, Minnesota had two contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Eugene McCarthy and Vice President Hubert Humphrey. We thought that defied the odds in a major way. Minnesota has not voted Republican at the presidential level for a very long time, roughly since the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. The idea that we would have two serious Republican presidential candidates in the 2012 cycle is unbelievable. Also unbelievable is the lack of interest among the Minnesota media in the phenomenon. You’d think they might want to try to figure it out.

 

(Snip)

 

(Note: I'll cross post this on the Michele Bachmann thread)

[righteousmomma]

Thanks again, Valin

I copied the below out of the Bachmann thread from you.

Lopez: Was Tim Pawlenty a good governor? A conservative governor?

 

Johnson: In my opinion, Governor Pawlenty was a very good governor, certainly the best governor in modern Minnesota history. I don’t think that he comes out of the conservative movement, but he governed as a conservative holding his finger in the dike against a flood of Democrats in the state legislature.

 

 

Lopez: What’s his best advantage and liability?

 

Johnson: Governor Pawlenty’s greatest strength is his ability to connect with citizens at every level. It is a function of intelligence combined with people skills. After serving only four years in the Minnesota house, he was elected the majority leader. His Republican colleagues in the house were among the many people with whom he has worked effectively over the years. I would rate a slight liability Governor Pawlenty’s presentation of himself as a stalwart of the conservative movement. I don’t think that’s quite who he is, but he is right to perceive the opportunity in filling that niche in the race.

 

Lopez: What one question would you love to hear everyone running for president answer? Maybe especially the two you know best?

 

Johnson: The relative absence of serious discussion of constitutional principles from our recent presidential elections is notable. I would like to hear the candidates address the idea of limited government and specify what they would do in office to advance and restore it.

[Valin]

Thanks again, Valin

I copied the below out of the Bachmann thread from you.

Lopez: Was Tim Pawlenty a good governor? A conservative governor?

 

Johnson: In my opinion, Governor Pawlenty was a very good governor, certainly the best governor in modern Minnesota history. I don’t think that he comes out of the conservative movement, but he governed as a conservative holding his finger in the dike against a flood of Democrats in the state legislature.

 

 

Here we see a problem some on our side have with Tim, "Didn't come out of the conservative movement." A. Ideology vs. Politics, (Michele Bachmann represents the former, Tim Pawlenty the latter) For some on our side this is a (supposedly) damning accusation. For those people ideology trumps (actually) winning an election. To quote my buddy Duane "Don't be on my side!"

B. I really love Michele, and find I agree with her the vast majority of the time.....but I have to question weather or not she can actually win, not only the nomination but (more importantly) the general election. For me in this election cycle the most important thing is that there is a Republican sitting in the White House on Jan. 21 2013.

[nickydog]

Oh, yes!!

[Geee]

Pawlenty supports Christie pension reform

 

Tim Pawlenty came out in support of Gov. Chris Christie’s pension reform plan that passed today, saying that public employee unions get a better deal than the taxpayers, and suggested that as a result, this issue now had bipartisan support.

 

“My hat is off to my good friend, Governor Christie,” Pawlenty said. “He has done a remarkable job and this is the right direction for this issue, and this state.”

 

Pawlenty said he had first hand knowledge of the way unions work, which gave him a better understanding of the politics.

 

“I have unique credibility in this area, coming from a union family, with Reagan Democrats. My dad was a teamster truck driver, and I was in a union for six or seven years. So I know the issues, and I have lived them personally and grew up in a meat-packing town,” Pawlenty said.

 

“And they are out of control. They are part of the reason we are going overboard … The truth is the unions are getting a better deal than the taxpayers, and they are part of the reason why government is going bankrupt, and we have to fix them and that takes strength, courage and truth. And I delivered it in Minnesota and I am glad Governor Christie is delivering it in New Jersey.

 

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/21/pawlenty-supports-christie-pension-reform/

[Geee]

Tim Pawlenty warns GOP on perils of isolationism

 

 

 

On the eve of President Barack Obama’s speech announcing a troop drawdown, Tim Pawlenty cautioned the GOP Tuesday against going wobbly on Afghanistan.

 

“I don’t like the drift of the Republican Party toward what appears to be a retreat or a move more towards isolationism,” the former Minnesota governor told POLITICO reporters in an interview.

 

Pawlenty expressed concern that Obama, who is scheduled to deliver a major speech about the conflict, will bring combat troops home too quickly.

 

He also suggested that front-runner Mitt Romney hasn’t staked out a firm position on the issue.

 

“I don’t know how to interpret his comments during the [recent New Hampshire] debate,” he said. “He walked them back post-debate in a couple of publications, so I’m not sure where he landed finally on that.”

 

In an hourlong interview, Pawlenty took a hawkish position at a time when prominent Republicans have publicly called for significant troop reductions and polls have shown increasing doubt among GOP voters that the conflict can be won. Pawlenty said he supported Obama’s 2009 troop surge but was “very disappointed that he also simultaneously announced the withdrawal deadline in the same speech.”

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57492.html

[Geee]

Tim Pawlenty sets out on East Coast swing to raise campaign funds

 

With a key fundraising deadline looming, GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty will spend nearly all of next week soliciting money from donors to fill his campaign coffers.

 

Between Monday and Thursday, the former Minnesota governor is scheduled to travel to New York City, Atlanta and Florida to make one last fundraising push before Thursday’s second-quarter filing deadline with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

 

Political observers will scrutinize Pawlenty’s second-quarter report next month to see if he is raising enough money to contend for the Republican nomination.

Pawlenty has consistently said he won’t raise enough to match the fundraising hauls of the field’s front-runner, Mitt Romney. But he has said he will take in enough to be competitive.

 

“We’re going to have enough money to run a competitive and successful campaign,” he told NBC the day after his campaign announcement last month. “It may not be the BMW or the Mercedes campaign. But it’ll be a good solid Buick and maybe even trending toward a Cadillac.”

 

But signs have crept up over the past few weeks that indicate Pawlenty might be having trouble reaching his goals.

 

His decision not to go after Romney on healthcare reform during last week’s primary debate prompted concerns from GOP strategists that donors could shy away from him.

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/168257-tim-pawlenty-sets-out-for-east-coast-to-raise-funds

[Valin]

WSJ: Pawlenty's Polls

While his name recognition has been trailing behind other Republican hopefuls, a new poll of registered voters in Minnesota shows he does well against President Obama.

MATTHEW PAYNE

6/24/11

 

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is fond of saying he's the candidate who can "unite the whole Republican party . . . and then actually go on and win the election." While his name recognition has been trailing behind other Republican hopefuls in key early primary states such as Iowa and New Hampshire, a new poll of registered voters in Minnesota from SurveyUSA shows he does well against President Obama.

 

The poll, conducted late last week, put Mr. Pawlenty in a dead heat with President Obama in a head to head matchup. This is the same Minnesota that voted for Obama by a margin of 11 points in 2008. The fact that Mr. Pawlenty polls relatively well among voters who know him may give credence to the notion that if "Mr. Nice" asserted himself more, he would have a chance at winning the nomination, and maybe even the presidency.

 

We don't discount Mr. Pawlenty's home-state advantage among Minnesota voters, but Republican hopefuls from other deep blue states didn't fare as well in similar measures. The same SurveyUSA poll had Michele Bachman losing by 14 points, while another recent Public Policy Polling survey has Governor Mitt Romney losing by 20 points in his home state of Massachusetts.

 

(Snip)

[Geee]

Pawlenty downplays poor Iowa showing

 

 

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ® on Monday downplayed a weekend poll showing him trailing other Republican candidates in Iowa, despite his concentrated efforts there.

 

Pawlenty said he wasn't bothered by this weekend's Iowa Poll, which showed he was the choice of just 6 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers.

 

"These early polls aren't a good predictor of how the race is going to come out," Pawlenty said during an appearance on NBC's "Today" show.

 

"There's still plenty of time to do well in Iowa and beyond," he added.

 

Still, the poll reflected a disappointing result for Pawlenty, who launched his campaign in Iowa and has been campaigning in the state neighboring his native Minnesota for well over a year.

 

Pawlenty launched his first television ad there last week and launched a new radio ad in the state starting on Monday. That TV ad, though, went on air in the Hawkeye State after the Des Moines Register poll was in the field. Pawlenty said Monday that those ads were just the beginning of a sustained media campaign.

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/168529-pawlenty-downplays-poor-showing-in-first-iowa-poll

[Rheo]

Pawlenty: ‘Wrong’ for GOP to Promote ‘Weakness in Foreign Policy’

 

Tim Pawlenty is positioning himself as the tough guy on foreign policy among the GOP candidates. Addressing citizens wearied by the long war in Afghanistan, and dubious about the “kinetic military action” in Libya, Pawlenty will use his speech this morning at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City to argue for the importance of U.S. military intervention when necessary. To Tea Partiers anxious about the Pentagon’s demands on the federal budget, he will argue that preserving military might is a cause worth spending on.

 

“What is wrong, is for the Republican Party to shrink from the challenges of American leadership in the world,” Pawlenty will say, according to excerpts of his speech obtained by National Review Online. “History repeatedly warns us that in the long run, weakness in foreign policy costs us and our children much more than we’ll save in a budget line item. America already has one political party devoted to decline, retrenchment, and withdrawal; it does not need a second one.”

[Valin]

Pawlenty: ‘Wrong’ for GOP to Promote ‘Weakness in Foreign Policy’

 

Tim Pawlenty is positioning himself as the tough guy on foreign policy among the GOP candidates. Addressing citizens wearied by the long war in Afghanistan, and dubious about the “kinetic military action” in Libya, Pawlenty will use his speech this morning at the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City to argue for the importance of U.S. military intervention when necessary. To Tea Partiers anxious about the Pentagon’s demands on the federal budget, he will argue that preserving military might is a cause worth spending on.

 

“What is wrong, is for the Republican Party to shrink from the challenges of American leadership in the world,” Pawlenty will say, according to excerpts of his speech obtained by National Review Online. “History repeatedly warns us that in the long run, weakness in foreign policy costs us and our children much more than we’ll save in a budget line item. America already has one political party devoted to decline, retrenchment, and withdrawal; it does not need a second one.”

 

 

Video Here

 

Transcript Here

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Somewhat related:

 

Pawlenty: War Powers Act 'does not apply' to Libyan mission

 

GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said Tuesday that the War Powers Act "does not apply" to the U.S. intervention in Libya, but that he would have consulted with Congress anyway if he had launched the mission as president.

 

During a question-and-answer session following a speech on foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, Pawlenty said that he would confer with members of Congress "as a courtesy and gesture of respect," but that he does not believe congressional authorization would be required for such a mission.

 

It's not the first time Pawlenty has questioned the need to go through Congress on the use of U.S. force in Libya, but it comes as lawmakers in both parties have upped their pressured the administration to seek formal authorization.

 

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) has threatened to cut off funds for the Libyan mission if the White House does not better explain the intervention.

 

I'm sorry, but I think Pawlenty is wrong here. I also don't like the accusation that he (and others like McCain) have made that questioning our involvement in Libya or acknowledging public weariness with Afghanistan is isolationism. IMO, we simply cannot afford to keep having so many ongoing foreign conflicts abroad.

[Valin]

 

I'm sorry, but I think Pawlenty is wrong here. [bI also don't like the accusation that he (and others like McCain) have made that questioning our involvement in Libya

 

I would just like to know......A. Why we are there, B. What the plan is C. Who is in charge. I have to tell you I've not really seen the answers to my question....not that I have any real problem with bombing the hell out of the Libyan army.

 

or acknowledging public weariness with Afghanistan is isolationism. IMO, we simply cannot afford to keep having so many ongoing foreign conflicts abroad.

 

Two points

1. It's a very short step to isolationism, and that's a place I don't want to see America go

2. If not us, who? This is a problem endemic with democracies particularly the American kind....short attention span, want it done now. Think of it this way 9/11 was the start of the Korean war, it now (say) 1954 in this war. When George Bush said this would be a generational war, he was telling us the truth.

[Casino67]

The Pawlenty Doctrine by Michael Ledeen

 

I was amazed when I read the Pawlenty speech on the Middle East. I hadn’t expected that a former Middle Western governor, from a blue state, would have had the passion and vision to deliver one of the most impressive analyses and tough-minded policy ideas within memory. And I love the title, “No Retreat from Freedom’s Rise.”

 

Here are the key graphs:

 

We have a clear interest in seeing an end to Assad’s murderous regime. By sticking to Bashar al Assad so long, the Obama Administration has not only frustrated Syrians who are fighting for freedom—it has demonstrated strategic blindness. The governments of Iran and Syria are enemies of the United States. They are not reformers and never will be. They support each other. To weaken or replace one, is to weaken or replace the other.

 

The fall of the Assad mafia in Damascus would weaken Hamas, which is headquartered there. It would weaken Hezbollah, which gets its arms from Iran, through Syria. And it would weaken the Iranian regime itself.

 

To take advantage of this moment, we should press every diplomatic and economic channel to bring the Assad reign of terror to an end. We need more forceful sanctions to persuade Syria’s Sunni business elite that Assad is too expensive to keep backing. We need to work with Turkey and the Arab nations and the Europeans, to further isolate the regime. And we need to encourage opponents of the regime by making our own position very clear, right now: Bashar al-Assad must go.

 

When he does, the mullahs of Iran will find themselves isolated and vulnerable. Syria is Iran’s only Arab ally. If we peel that away, I believe it will hasten the fall of the mullahs. And that is the ultimate goal we must pursue. It’s the singular opportunity offered to the world by the brave men and women of the Arab Spring.

 

(Source)

[Geee]

Pawlenty raises $4.2M in second quarter

 

GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty raised around $4.2 million between April and June, according to his campaign.

 

The number is considered low for someone trying to position himself as a top-tier candidate.

 

"Gov. Pawlenty will report that his campaign has raised about $4.2 million, and begins the third quarter with more available cash on hand than the Republicans who won the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary had in July 2007," Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant said in a statement.

Pawlenty's campaign did not release the exact amount of cash his campaign has on hand.

 

The former Minnesota governor's campaign hoped to show a strong second-quarter fundraising number to boost the candidate's standing in the field.

 

Pawlenty spent almost all of the past week on an East Coast fundraising tour in order to bring in more cash from major donors. The candidate attempted to make up ground after speculation that his fundraising fell off following his panned debate performance in New Hampshire in June.

 

No GOP candidate is expected to match Romney, who is likely to take in between $15 million and $20 million in the second quarter. Pawlenty has pledged he will raise enough to be competitive.

 

Pawlenty's numbers hew closely to former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, who raised $4.1 million over the past three months, though much of it came from his personal savings.

 

http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/169473-pawlenty-raises-42m-in-second-quarter

[Geee]

Minnesota government shutdown puts Tim Pawlenty in spotlight

 

 

Finally, America is paying attention to Tim Pawlenty.

 

The underdog presidential candidate has spent more than a year trying to gin up interest among Republican primary voters, so far with little to show for it. Now, Pawlenty’s home-state budget crisis has won him the kind of national spotlight that he has rarely earned on his own.

 

It’s a potential make-or-break moment for the former two-term governor, who has faced mounting questions in recent weeks about whether he’ll catch on in a GOP field that features flashier and better-known candidates. Pawlenty’s poll numbers continue to languish in the low single digits and his campaign announced Friday that it raised only a modest $4.2 million in the second quarter of the year.

 

The most valuable asset Pawlenty has left is his reputation as a solidly conservative governor who balanced budgets without raising taxes. Now, that reputation is drawing new scrutiny amid the spending showdown in St. Paul.

 

Pawlenty advisers contend that the shutdown will allow Pawlenty to highlight his record of holding the line on spending in a liberal state, contrasting that with the approach of his successor, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton, as well as President Barack Obama.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58233.html

 

“One of the challenges for Gov. Pawlenty so far has been that the country’s just not familiar with his record in Minnesota. He did not govern in Minnesota under the national media’s spotlight,” said Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant. “The more we discuss his record and the more that the national press looks into his record, the better off we are, because it’s a great story to tell.”

 

As it happens, Pawlenty’s political opponents agree – but their version of the Pawlenty record is a dramatically different and darker one.

[Geee]

Tim Pawlenty Hires Mike Huckabee's Daughter, Shows How Crucial Iowa Is to Campaign's Fate

 

With Michele Bachmann generating enthusiasm and Mitt Romney lapping the field in hauling in campaign money, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has languished of late both in terms of traction on the ground, which his sluggish debate performance did not help, and in generating the requisite buzz that usually accompanies top tier candidates.

 

Today, the Pawlenty campaign announced that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, daughter of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, would join the campaign and immediately take the lead in the campaign's Iowa Straw Poll effort in the critical first in the nation caucus state.

 

“Sarah is a results-oriented person with a great track record in Iowa and around the country,” Gov. Pawlenty said in a statement. “ We are very excited Sarah is joining our team just as we are hitting our stride in Iowa.”

 

Said Huckabee Sanders in a statement: "I’m delighted to join the Governor and First Lady in Iowa, which holds a special place in my heart ... It’s clear to me that Gov. Pawlenty has what it takes to unite the party, unite the country and beat President Obama.”

 

In the 2008 campaign cycle, Huckabee Sanders orchestrated Gov. Huckabee's surprise victory in the Iowa caucauses as his national political director.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=44651

[Geee]

Pawlenty the Hawk

 

 

 

In the past month, Republican voters and politicians have continued their gradual turn against America’s existing military interventions and “nation-building” abroad. When President Obama announced the start of U.S. troop withdrawals from Afghanistan, some leading Republicans, such as former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, suggested that American troops were not leaving Afghanistan quickly enough. In the case of Libya, House Republicans are fed up with Obama’s handling of the intervention and may yet defund U.S. military operations there. At the June GOP presidential candidates’ debate in New Hampshire, several participants, including Rep. Michele Bachmann (R., Minn.), offered outspoken opposition to the Libyan operation, and frontrunner Mitt Romney appeared to straddle the issue of Afghanistan, warning of the danger of fighting another country’s “war of independence.”

 

In Congress, the focus on the deficit is overwhelming, and numerous Republicans, under the combined pressure of fiscal concerns and tea-party sentiment, no longer consider U.S. defense spending to be sacrosanct. Moreover, both the Pentagon and the Afghanistan war are losing leaders of immense credibility in Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/271225/pawlenty-hawk-colin-dueck

[Geee]

Don’t Count Pawlenty Out Yet

 

With the Ames straw poll little more than a month away, the Republican presidential nominating contest is approaching its next major marker. Candidates who show poorly will be under pressure to drop out, as fundraising, buzz, and media attention will diminish.

 

One candidate will be watched more closely than any other at the straw poll: former two-term Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty.

 

Pawlenty was a candidate with momentum leading up to the first televised debate held in New Hampshire on June 14. He had attracted a top-notch staff of operatives, was winning over fundraisers and influential Republican figures, was giving major policy speeches, and had a very successful campaign launch on May 23, which continued for a full week.

 

But in spite of these positive developments, hard-earned through weeks of planning and execution, national politics is sometimes reduced to moments, and those moments can become unshakeable.

 

His momentum was immediately stopped by the introduction of a human moment. At that CNN debate, held one day after Pawlenty went on Fox News and coined the term “ObamneyCare” to describe the health-care-reform bill ushered into law by then–Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, he repeatedly refused to defend the phrase and his criticism when standing two places to Romney’s left onstage. It was a cringe-worthy moment. Was he a paper tiger? Were his instincts not right to be the Republican standard-bearer next fall against the incumbent president? The questions were asked for days.

 

Such a moment created a death spiral for the campaign, which has been difficult to break.

 

Such a “controversy” generates bad press, which decreases fundraising, which hurts the candidate’s and the campaign staff’s morale. The last month has not been fun at the Minneapolis headquarters.

 

The Pawlenty campaign has been, I suspect, desperately seeking a new moment, something to break this cycle.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/271559/dont-count-pawlenty-out-yet-matt-mackowiak

[righteousmomma]

I was neither pro nor con Pawlenty but when he told lib/Dem David Gregory on Meet the Press that Bachmann has no Congressional record and then reiterated it when asked on Fox and Friends, it turned me off him. Made me really question his heart. United we stand ,defeated we fall sorta thing to put the whole matter simplistically.These times do not call for politics as usual in this most pivotal point in our Country's history.

[Geee]

T-Paw’s Iowa Power Play

 

 

On August 13, Tim Pawlenty could make an underdog comeback — or watch his candidacy go under.

 

That’s the date of the famously influential Ames Straw Poll, an event where thousands of Iowa voters gather to support Republican primary candidates. For Pawlenty, who has all the right credentials on paper but so far has failed to sell himself as a candidate to many voters, it’s a crucial test of his electability.

“He needs a first- or second-place finish,” says Craig Robinson, a former Iowa GOP political director and the editor of TheIowaRepublican.com. “Third place has been a deadly spot for people to finish in the straw poll. If you look back four years ago, Sam Brownback finished third and didn’t make it to the caucus. If you go back [to 2000], Elizabeth Dole didn’t make it to the caucus stage.”

On the surface, Pawlenty’s path to a first- or second-place finish at Ames looks rocky. Iowa-born Michele Bachmann is gaining momentum in the Hawkeye State right now. Rick Perry may or may not be a candidate by the time of the Ames poll, but his supporters are already organizing to try to give him an impressive showing. Ron Paul, who finished fifth in 2007’s straw poll, is fighting hard this time, as shown by his campaign’s willingness to spend $31,000 to reserve the prime location outside the Ames arena where the straw poll is held for his supporters. The next-best spot sold for $18,000.

 

But Pawlenty still has one advantage: his Iowa organization.

 

“His campaign has made a huge investment in grassroots organization, building the apparatus that it takes to actually motivate people . . . to go to Ames,” says Robinson, noting that Pawlenty has “the best-organized campaign in the state,” with a larger staff than any of the other candidates.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/272240/t-paw-s-iowa-power-play-katrina-trinko

[Valin]

 

 

But Pawlenty still has one advantage: his Iowa organization.

 

“His campaign has made a huge investment in grassroots organization, building the apparatus that it takes to actually motivate people . . . to go to Ames,” says Robinson, noting that Pawlenty has “the best-organized campaign in the state,” with a larger staff than any of the other candidates.

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/272240/t-paw-s-iowa-power-play-katrina-trinko

 

Exactly!

[Geee]

Tim Pawlenty Invokes 'Miracle on Ice' in New Ad

 

Tim Pawlenty released a new ad called "The American Comeback." The Ad invokes the famous United States' "Miracle on Ice" hockey victory when the underdog Americans improbably beat the hugely favored and dominant Russians in the semifinals of the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid.

 

Team Pawlenty is smart to play the underdog. They have worked to (or have been forced to, which may be a better description) lower expectations for Pawlenty in Ames Straw Poll in August and are banking on beating expectations in Ames to jumpstart their campaign.

 

In recent days, though, Pawlenty's advisers seem to be lowering expectations to the point where they can spin a victory over Rick Santorum and Jon Huntsman in the Straw Poll as a "victory," which seems laugahble. Beating those expectations in the Straw Poll cannot certainly be compared to the "Miracle on Ice," which, as the ad most likely implies, is a reference to Pawlenty's underdog status to win the nomination.

 

To win the nomination, Pawlenty must first do well enough in Ames to get some momentum heading into the fall. To do that, he needs to find a message and theme that link with his compelling biography while contrasting himself with putative frontrunner Michele Bachmann.

 

And that is exactly what Pawlenty is trying to do this week as he takes an RV across Iowa and in the weeks leading up to the Straw Poll. Time will tell if he can find enough Iowans who see perhaps their inner underdogs in Pawlenty.

 

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45012