Of all those currently being named as candidates or maybes, Tim’s the Main Man! He seems to be the one with the best chance to beat Obama. We’ll learn much more about him soon.

Initially via Captain Ed, currently over at Hot Air but before that at his solo blog, Captain’s Quarters, I have to say I’m a little surprised by your prior dismissal, Erick.

Pawlenty isn’t an east-coast fire-breather, but he is a game-changer.

Minnesota is a very blue state, and yet Pawlenty is not only popular, he’s been very successful. He’s played the Dem-dominated legislature like a fiddle. If you’re not familiar, go read up on Pawlenty baiting the Dems intto passing a big-spending budget, then turning it into the budget Pawlenty wanted via the line item veto.

Yes, there’s the wobble on climate change, but .. that was before the most damaging evidence saw the light of day, and Minnesota would be very affected by change, so .. while I don’t like it, I can potentially excuse it.

Further, Pawlenty has had his impact in Minnesota without making the kind of left-wing waves Walker kicked up in Wisconsin, or the right-wing waves that are still swamping Daniels. I also don’t see where Pawlenty has any social issues he’ll have to walk back, unlike Romney, or a messy personal life unlike Giuliani or Gingrich.

Pawlenty is also an outsider, and governor of a border state, and while you can’t see Russia from Minnesota, there are a lot more people in Minnesota than Alaska.

I’m sufficiently “outside baseball” that the hiring of Nick Ayres meant very little to me prior to reading your post, Erick, so I’m thankful that you’ve explained it. Glad to hear Pawlenty will be taken seriously. He’s a serious guy and, in this cat’s opinion, would make a great President.

Mew

I’ve shaken my head at the skepticism that many conservatives have for Pawlenty–he’s got a great record, particularly considering where he’s from, and no one is without blemishes–and hopefully the pick up of Nick Ayers (who is difficult to praise enough) can get more of us to look at him seriously.

why is he working now for Pawlenty?

Has Pawlenty really forsaken warm and gooey positions inimical to America’s future?

Or is he just being dressed in Conservative clothing for the nomination process?

I am willing to be convinced of the former: people do change occasionally for the better. An environmental auto-da-fe would be nice.

On the other hand, candidates from Minnesota are 0-4.

Stassen, Humphrey, McCarthy, and Mondale. But there is a first time for everything!

which was a refreshing change from the endless NRSC foot-shooting. This announcement definitely caught my eye.

For a chuckle, check out this little Ayers piece in Vanity Fair. I came across it thanks to Google. I normally wouldn’t read anything at VF, but this one was quite funny (intentionally so).

I’ve said all along that unless some wild card (ie, Christie) jumps in the ring, it will have to be either Pawlenty or Daniels almost by default. With the exception of Romney there are just no other serious candidates running, and I don’t see how Romney can possibly overcome all of the downside he had in 2008 plus RomneyCare. So it will be either Pawlenty or Daniels and though my preference between the two is Daniels, I don’t think that he is going to run ultimately, and even if he does, I don’t think that he will get past Pawlenty.

-exits

I’ve seen this coming for a while now. Pawlenty has an excellent path to the nomination if he doesn’t screw up. While everyone else is out there fighting, he’s quietly making the right moves. Like a Scott Walker or a Reince Priebus, he’s a quiet, friendly, nice guy that independents and even Dems might feel comfortable voting for, despite being a conservative for the most part (cap and trade excluded). He’s sitting right at the sweet spot between the Tea Party and the establishment, and he has a smart head on his shoulders. Not my cup of tea, but from a political standpoint he’s sitting pretty right now.

will realize that the only common sense choice is going to be Pawlenty. Once we all come to the realization that there isnt a perfect candidate, in fact no one is even close, the only candidate left that I think everyone can still get behind is Pawlenty. He has the resume, he hasnt throughly pissed off anyone, and he is likable enough to be President of the United States.

How would that affect Pawlenty’s campaign? Didn’t Pawlenty had the same problem with Ben Foster, an Iowan staffer who got drunk and did something stupid?

I’m just wondering…it’s not that Ayers can’t run Pawlenty’s campaign, after all, look at George W. Bush’s track record. He got straightened out by Jesus Christ and stopped doing that, so that proves DUIs don’t necessarily ruin an aspiring politician’s career.

I’m sure Pawlenty took that into his consideration when deciding on a chief to run his campaign. And in all, I wish him the best of luck in winning the Republican nomination.

Or are we voting for Tim Pawlenty?

I have no reason to doubt the wunderkind label attributed to Ayers, but the question that keeps nagging me is:

If Pawlenty is “The One”, why has he been (relatively speaking) waaay low on the radar and now requires some of Ayers sorcery to elevate him into being a “high on the radar” contender?

that’s awkwardly phrased… How about, “would you be giving him as much attention without Ayers? Is Ayers the main reason (and not the actual candidate)?

It just reeks of Ayers being some kind of a king-maker and Pawlenty wouldn’t have a shot otherwise. As if you could substitute a ham-sandwich for Pawlenty — if Ayers joined the ham-sandwich’s team.

It’s going to be T-Paw. Palin is going to endorse him (though she might do a half-hearted Presidential run to boost her celebrity first), and he will generally be supported by both establishmentarians and some grassroots voters encouraged both by his record and Palin’s endorsement.

Huck, Romney, and the retreads (great band name) will be rejected for their big-government tendencies or for being uninvolved in politics (i.e., Rudy). The libertarian candidates (Paul and Johnson) are too out there for many voters (which is unfortunate in the case of Johnson. Rick Santorum… heh. The outsiders with business experience (Cain, Trump, and others) won’t be able to get any name recognition that is positive. Congressmen have too limited a base of support to draw from. Daniels has been hurt by his “truce” statements, and might not run anyways. Therefore, T-Paw.

that Pawlenty gets ripped as bland and non-conservative by non-Minnesotans. I haven’t heard a Minnesotan say a bad thing about him yet. I gotta believe he will look all the better the longer Dayton-Hudson is the governor. All’s I know is that we would’ve given our left umm, leg to have had him in MI instead of two-penny Jenny Granholm the last 8 years.

Minnesotans, tell us more about Pawlenty.

Each major GOP candidate has a “yeah but”…

Romney: Yeah, but… RomneyCare.

Barbour: Yeah, but… was a lobbyist, and talks like Foghorn Leghorn.

Gingrich: Yeah, but… his messy personal life.

Palin/Bachman: Yeah, but… she’s likely unelectable.

Huckabee: Yeah, but… he’s a fiscal moderate.

And the list goes on. Pawlenty ain’t exciting, but he has no disqualifying “yeah, but”.

If she’s going to run for ’12 President, then I do hope that Sarah Palin, officially, starts running, asap, and then, puts an end to all of this “Sarah Palin can’t win!” crap. Either, Sarah Palin/Herman Cain, or Sarah Palin/Allen West would make a decent ’12 Presidential ticket, IMHO.

Pawlenty seems to have nothing going for him, but presto, he hires a guy who says he loves Christ. All of a sudden he may the THE guy. Is that all it takes to win your hearts and minds?

boldness, Obama likely would have been found ineligible to even run for the White House.

And why is a “messy personal life” only a negative for GOP candidates?

Jeez, look at the guys the Dems’ run out there: Carter – filed bankruptcy on his peanut business; Bill Clinton – well, do I start with Whitewater or hiring an attack dog to “deal with bimbo eruptions?”; and the Anointed One – yes the ex-drug using (and most likely drug selling) candidate with a list of friends that would make Bin Laden blush, as well as shady home buying deals, raised as a Muslim, hiding college and even birth records, etc.

All three of those Dems WON, yet the GOP candidate can’t have a mole on his behinds?

Sooner or later, we will have to learn to trot out a candidate that will fight fire with fire, to not care if our guy (or gal) goes to church and tithes, or if they have ever had sex with someone other than their spouse.

There is too much at stake now to nit-pick a candidate who may have the stones (and right now Palin and Bachman have more stones than most) to call-a-spade-spade, and a-cheating-liar-a-cheating-liar.

is too much of a wimp. He would not stand up for right to work and caved in to much on other things other than the food tax for 6 or 7 counties so that Jim Irsay would not run off. And you thought we did not negotiate with thugs.

Life was good when our dems ran off. Then they had to go and come back.

whether we who call ourselves, the right, conservatives, Republicans, tea party members, etc are too disorganized and busy fighting among ourselves to allow an excellent candidate to emerge which the majority of us could support. Bring up a name of a potential candiate and the harsh commentary begins. It’s not surprising that an individual with excellent credentials and experience would ever consider entering the political fray. They will get torn apart before the battle even gets underway. Who wants or needs that?

It would be great, for a change, if people could express their thoughts about potential candiates without having to endure the sometimes vociferous attacks from other posters. Isn’t that what public discourse is all about. Let’s talk about the pros and cons of a potential candidate with some degree of civility. Then lets see how they all get through the primary process and rally around the winner who, presumably has been chosen by the most votes, to be our standard bearer. Maybe then, we might have a better chance of winning back the White House and the Senate.

It seems we fight so much among ourselves we lose sight of who the real enemy is, Obama and the far Left.