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EDITOR OF REDSTATE

On Tim Pawlenty

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  August 14th, 2011 at 02:12 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

For a long time I thought Tim Pawlenty would be the eventual nominee. He kept his head down, worked hard, and hired a hell of a good team. Nick Ayers, Alex Conant, Ann Marie Hauser, and the rest of the team have really done well building Pawlenty’s image as a problem solver and as a blue state leader with red state values.

Unfortunately, the personal charisma and charm Pawlenty had one on one never translated and he seemed uncomfortable throwing the punches necessary on a campaign trail. As Bachmann rose and word of a Perry entry came, the rationale for a Pawlenty campaign diminished.

Tim Pawlenty really is a nice guy and it showed through. But being a nice guy and an exciting guy are two different things and the campaign was not able to generate excitement.

Tim Pawlenty’s service to his country is not yet done I suspect and I hope.

On a final note, Tim Pawlenty was a real and a serious candidate for President — not a book salesman or charlatan. When it became clear he could not win the nomination, he got out gracefully and swiftly.

There are many candidates more deserving of the title “former candidate for President” than Tim Pawlenty. And I hope those candidates will learn from Pawlenty’s departure a valuable lesson in leadership — knowing when to lead, even when the direction is off the field.

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  • Right_Again

    He would probably have been better as President than he was as a candidate. Just the opposite of the guy currently occupying the office.

  • http://www4.webng.com/rickbull/lostlucky/ rickbull

    Tim is a solid Republican and a solid Conservative who deserves our respect and support, and his future in politics is far from over.

    But.

    This campaign is going to take a candidate and a campaign staff that is willing to throw hard balls at the other side. It’s going to take someone willing to get in 0bama’s face and tell him to quit urinating on our shoes and telling us that it’s raining. I’m not sure that Gov. Pawlenty is that candidate.

    The liberals are going to dig up every molecule of dirt they can on any candidate that we run, and they are going to be throwing [expletive] balls at our candidate that make what they threw at GW Bush look like cotton candy. We need a Babe Ruth batter that can lob them back in spades.

    The primary advantage that we have in this election is that the other side is going to have to defend a failed administration and 9%+ unemployment while throwing trillions of dollars into the wind. And we need someone who will be unambiguous in pointing out those failings and the over-regulation and overspending that they resulted from.

    Pawlenty’s time in the sun will come, but this is not it.

  • http://whattoreadtoday.blogspot.com/ Paula

    Ever since the CNN debate, when he refused to throw a punch at Mitt, I have had the feeling Pawlenty was jockeying for a VP slot. His willingness to go after Bachmann and his social conservative cred would have certainly won him brownie points with Camp Romney.

    T-Paw endorsing Romney wouldn’t make him even slightly more appealing to me. Meh….maybe in the general election….

  • clintonformccain

    Pawlenty would probably make a fine cabinet secretary.

  • acat

    For a couple reasons.

    Geography:
    Romney’s a northeastern-establishment guy with a family history in Michigan. He doesn’t need another yankee to put the midwest in play, what he needs is a Southern Conservative. Herman Cain or Gingrich or .. – the oft-mentioned Marco Rubio.

    In-and-out:
    Pawlenty isn’t far enough out of the “establishment” to really help Romney with his Tea Party cred. For that, Romney needs a Tea Party fave like Palin or maybe Cain or – Rubio again.

    Plays with Blocs:
    Romney’s a rich white guy. He needs someone who’s either female, black, or hispanic. Pailin, Cain, or Rubio help Romney, Pawlenty does not.

    My guess is Pawlenty’s style – upper midwestern style – of not throwing punches is why he didn’t hit Mitt… and I agree that it cost him.

    Mew

  • http://whattoreadtoday.blogspot.com/ Paula

    That would be a disastrous career move for someone like Rubio. I suspect Cain wouldn’t be able to keep his mouth shut and be Romney’s yes-man. And I don’t think Palin is going to be anyone’s VP ever again.

    And really, Pawlenty didn’t seem to have a problem throwing punches at Bachmann, did he? It’s like he had “Plan B” (or “Plan M”) in mind all along.

  • SoFiMil

    I was a T-Paw backer. Good man. Classy man. Great husband and father. Thanks for your service and efforts, Governor.

  • Scope

    The Minnesota GOP Chair is going to approach Pawlenty and try to persuade him to run for Amy Klobuchar’s Senate seat.

  • SoFiMil

    If Pawlenty had repeated his condemnation of ORomney care, the MSM would have immediately tagged Pawlenty as someone who couldn’t build consensus. . Instead he was seen as someone who wouldn’t follow-up on previous policy criticisms.

  • http://teapartisan.wordpress.com Loren Heal

    because the reason he was in the race was to get elected.

    Others are in the race possibly to sell books, but more likely to sell a message. Pawlenty’s message was just that he was the best one to do the job, which may have been quite true.

  • acat

    A lot of POTUS candidates seem to be, or to be able to, at least, turn themselves to replacing Dem Senators.

    Hope this trend continues.

    Mew

  • minister_of_war

    female, or Black, or Hispanic or …… (pick any other minority you want). What Romney needs to look at first is geography, just like all candidates usually do. He’s a northerner, so he really needs help in the south to solidify that base. He can bring in the rust belt by himself. He would need someone with southern credetials. If that person happens to be a female, or Black, or Hispanic, or whatever, so be it. But those things are side issues for him. He wants to win based upon an electoral map. I think that DeMint or any other good southern conservative could help him win the south. Romney can win the northeast & west by himself.

  • Adjoran

    But before the Presidency, our Republic has placed the Campaign.

    In Pawlenty’s case, the vetting has been severe. If only the scrutiny had been one-tenth as close when Obama was running . . .

  • Adjoran

    Minnesota might elect (or has recently elected).

    But his administrative skills might be better utilized running a cabinet department. They are sprawling bureacratic money pits now, being made ever worse by the likes of incompetents like Sebelius and Napolitano.

  • gawken

    I think he’d beat him this time out. I suspect that in 2006, at least 35% of Dem thought they were voting for Casey’s father. PA’s at least purple, and with a bad econmy, and an unpopular Obama atop the ticket..Rick could win this..

    I have a new slogan:

    Who says the GOP isn’t environmentally friendly? We recycle our failed presidential candidates.

  • http://www.sunshinestatesarah.com SunshineStateSarah

    http://www.redstate.com/sunshinestatesarah/2011/08/14/the-wrong-tim-pawlenty-ran-for-president/

  • crispian

    It appears it was primarily about needing campaign cash. A win at Ames could have provided an influx of new funds. It’s not like a win at Ames would have made Pawlenty the frontrunner. If Pawlenty was a billionaire, he’d still be in the race.

    Us conservatives are not immune from the cult of celebrity and wanting an ‘exciting’ candidate (a la Barack Obama). Thus we ignore the candidates with the best records and proven fidelity to conservatism like Pawlenty.

    Bachmann is an ideologue. I’m not saying I don’t like much of what she fights fights fights for, but she hasn’t proven herself competent to lead our nation. I think of Obama who had no proven ability to bring people together, but talked like he did. Bachmann has no proven ability to bring people together and talks like she can’t.

    While conservative might love a candidate who treats “compromise” as a dirty word, the American people as a whole will reject that kind of ‘leadership.’ And then all conservatives lose.

    I have no idea how Bachmann would truly lead our nation. Obviously the game now is to convince conservatives, not all Americans. But I see little way for Bachmann to convince all Americans in a general election given her record and rhetoric.

    Perry has a Texas-sized personality, talks the talk, and has had luck with job creation in his state. Why this is enough for many to love him, I have no idea. I’m tired of the ego in candidates like Perry. And I don’t trust that he has any regard for the more libertarian concerns for privacy, especially versus security. I don’t want a personality president. I don’t want a snake oil salesman like Romney.

    I want a competent proven leader who has stuck by his principles because he wanted to and was able to turn principles into policy. Pawlenty was the only guy who fit that description. “Conservatives” who groused about things like the cigarette tax (really, people) don’t deserve him.

    Chris Christie would satisfy the substantive factors I identify and meet the approval of the personality lovers out there. Sadly, he is not running. So I guess an ideologue, Texas’s Rick Perry, or a snake oil salesman will be my choice.

    p.s. Tim Pawlenty, your campaign slogan should have been, “Nice guys finish last.”

  • skorrent1

    To “compromise”! Sounds like you’d be happy with Boehner or McC in the white house. Their compromises worked out so well, didn’t they. No real spending cuts, no real decisions, more immediate debt and lower credit ratings.

    How about the Gipper’s attitude: “We win, they lose!”

  • skorrent1

    sorry

  • Whacker77

    Erick noted Pawlenty seemed uncomfortable throwing punches on the trail. That was certainly evident at the CNN debate in June.

    This point raises the main reason I thought Palwenty was never a serious candidate. If he was uncomfortable challenging Romney on healthcare, why was there any reason to believe he would be aggressive against Obama?

    Pawlenty exemplified the problems many conservatives and Republicans had and still have with the 2012 field. He was never a candidate who matched the opportunities that exist in 2012.

    In a race with names like Jeb, Christie, Rubio, and even Daniels, Pawlenty would have been a Santorum.

    Pawlenty seems like a nice guy, but he never personified presidential timber. I do hope he runs for Senate though.

  • Jill1066

    I think this is very well-stated. I also don’t think Pawlenty was shopping for a VP pick. He wanted the top job and based on everything he’d done he had a good case to make in asking for it.

    I think the Minnesota GOP is lobbying him to consider running against Amy Klobuchar since her senate seat is up in 2012. As the last Republican to win statewide in Minnesota he’s probably their best nominee.

  • http://www.redstate.com/thesophist TheSophist

    Pawlenty being able to serve the country and the cause best, now that he’s out?

    Cabinet secretary, sure, but which one?

    I ask because I hope that if our win in 2012 is big enough, we can actually start chopping departments and dismantling the Beast. So no way I’d want Pawlenty as HUD Secretary, for example.

    -TS

  • redtillimdead

    I could see President Perry appointing Pawlenty as his RNC Chair for his first term. T-Paw was an operative before he was a politician and he served as RGA Vice-Chair

  • atlracer35

    I still can’t figure out the media’s obsession with T-Paw. Really makes me wonder if they actually get out of their bubble & talk with ordinary Americans. Nice guy…sure. President…..LOL! Probably the most boring and bland of all the candidates. True conservative….no way…but nor could you be & get elected in MN. I never understood why he even entered the race. He should just stick to appearing on Fox as he does a good job there.

  • FlyingTigress

    “…The liberals are going to dig up every molecule of dirt they can on any candidate that we run, CREATE DIRT WHERE IT DOESN’T, BLAME EVERYONE ELSE FOR BARACK’S INCOMPETANCE, and they are going to be throwing [expletive] balls at our candidate…”

    FIFY

  • clintonformccain

    This early, they have hang breathlessly on every word of every declared candidate, including obvious field-fillers like Pawlenty. I never saw him likely to strike a spark.

    The media pretends that Santorum and Cain are serious candidates, too — as if anyone will actually notice when they fold their campaigns. The great thing about being a field filler is that it doesn’t cost anything to keep going. Airfare and hotels are about the extent of it for a guy like Cain.

  • http://www4.webng.com/rickbull/lostlucky/ rickbull

    I momentarily forgot that part . . .

  • lineholder

    You can consider both these candidates as “field fillers” is you choose to, but Cain’s intensity level has remained higher than the average for weeks on end. And because of his involvement, there’s a lot of chatter on Black conservative websites about getting more proactively involved between now and Nov. 2012.

    If Cain departs from the race, his presence will be missed….just not in the “traditional” manner that political junkies are accustomed to seeing.

  • clintonformccain

    must translate to what? A half dozen votes in November 2012…

    Obama will get 90+% of the African American vote and no Republican primary candidate will change that.

    I’m glad to see Cain using this opportunity to build some name-recognition, but he’s not a likely player in the nomination fight.

  • lineholder

    in your own private hole of politics or something? Things are changing, clintonformccain. You need to broaden your horizons a bit. Seriously.

    BTW, I used to think the same thing about % of AA vote until I started researching what’s going on.

  • victrola

    There’s quite a few “carnival barkers” that have absolutely no chance against Obama that were given WAY more air time than they deserve compared to Pawlenty. Here was an effective, two-term Governor of a blue state that had a stellar conservative record, and yet candidates like Newt Gingrich and Herman Cain were consistently outpolling him.

    I get why he didn’t win, he simply did not “fill the room”, and I also found him to be very vanilla, but I’ll take vanilla over dingbat candidates any day.

    I’m hoping his life in politics is not over, and he should be on the short list of any eventual GOP nominee.

  • Goldwater_Conservative

    I think he would have been the best president out of all the candidates that are out there, but unfortunately you have to win American idol to become the CEO of the United States of America. This isnt sour grapes as much as it is a shot at the process itself as it currently sits. The best of the best wont make it through the process.

  • JSobieski

    I remember when Kemp as Dole’s VP was going to make substantial inroads with the black vote. At some point it will happen, but its not going to happen with a Black incumbent Democrat President. I am FB friends with a couple black conservatives. I get in arguments about politics quite often in those forums because they have a lot of liberal friends. There is no great move away from Obama. To the contrary, in many quarters there is a doubling down, a circling of the wagons, etc as Obama takes heat from other sources.

    Obama will get in excess of 90% of the AA vote. I will bet as much money on that proposition has you are willing to bet.

  • acat

    Takes time, often looks like nothing’s happening.

    DeVine Gamecock tracks this more closely than this cat but .. IIRC, there’s a couple pebbles moving in Georgia.

    I do not think 2012 will be the year the bloc cracks. I do think it’s coming and, as a number of people expressed thanks in 2008 at seeing a black president, I hope I live to see a black republican house majority leader.

    Mew

  • crispian

    “OMG, he’s bland but he’s ever so nice!’

    THAT was actually the media narrative. It was the media narrative you apparently bought hook, line, and sinker.

    There was no media obsession with him. There were sometimes recognition of his conservative accomplishments as governor of a blue state. There aren’t many candidates with such an accomplished background in the race. He obviously was a true conservative. Look at his record. You can grouse about a cigarette tax all day, or a passing comment about this or that topic, but look at his record. I am sick and tired of those “true conservatives” who will choose the unproven ideologue over the leaders who have made tough choices and pushed the conservative agenda forward.

    The complaint about blandness and your false assertion of a media obsession have nothing to do with competence to be president nor the existence of a record of achievement.

  • JSobieski

    If you grade governors on a curve, Pawlenty was solid red in a blue state.

    Romney was purple in a blue state.

    “Perry is red in a red state.

    Did Perry pull Texas right? I don’t see that, even though I like Perry a lot.

    I think that people get emotionally locked in or out of candidates and issus. We saw it with Obama. We see it in the budget debate where the CCB was marginally better (more fake cuts) than Boehner 2.0, and yet people reacted like we went from salvation to damnation.

    I think the world has simply lost its mind. It seems like even highly sophisticated and educated people can no longer compare a set of data points in a reasonable and common sense manner. It seems like I hear public policy arguments in the news today that my high school teachers would have chastised me for making a couple of years ago.

    The quality of the public debate on TARP, budgets, entitlements, etc. is simply crap. The Founding Fathers can’t be pleased by this.

    P.S. I would have supported Perry over Pawlenty anyway, but I do think that the two of them are head and shoulders above all the other contenders.

  • SoFiMil

    Limiting Obama to only 90% would be a huge win for the GOP, as opposed to 95%.

  • losmacs

    based not only on his conservative creds and executive experience, but on the fact that he is unabashedly pro-life. This was something that used to aggravate me to no end about Bush Jr; that he would never take an unapologetic, unequivocal stand in favor of the pro-life movement in general, or the unborn in particular.
    America has missed out on one of her best chances for a statesman- president. Theres more to pesidential material than personal magnetism, though it does help. I also hope that Gov. Pawlenty will still have a role to play in the recovery of our country.

  • BA Cyclone

    There are A LOT OF CUTS that need to be made by whomever is the next President, and someone with that kind of executive experience could be quite valuable in a strong cabinet.

  • conservista

    My husband and I are Minnesota conservative Republicans who, overall, have been less than thrilled with Tim Pawlenty. He’s a nice guy and a low-key, “get the job done” consensus builder. But…

    He supported the “green” agenda for years, he supported government meddling in health care (such as the MN Health Dept.’s illegal baby DNA bank, state government “best practices” mandates for providers, and an Obamacare-style health information exchange), and he was John McCain’s campaign manager in Minnesota from the get-go, when McCain was still campaigning for the nomination.

    It has been really hard for us to get past Pawlenty’s support for McCain.

  • BA Cyclone

    Steve Hayes said he thought the Pawlenty campaign misread the general polling that suggests GOP voters highly value “electability” so his entire message focus was on his “proven record of results”. No doubt that was an obvious strength of his resume, so it is a reasonable line of strategy.

    However the energy in the party at large is still significantly around conservative values and principles. When you walk out of a Pawlenty event and you think “it wouldn’t be so bad if he were President” it isn’t exactly a message that inspires that support and energy required several months away from the first ballots being cast. The other candidates were more effective at tapping that energy than Pawlenty.