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Go Home Let The Pawlenty Boomlet Begin!

THE PLANK FEBRUARY 18, 2008

Let The Pawlenty Boomlet Begin!

BY JASON ZENGERLE

Jonathan Martin detects rumblings about Minnesota Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty's veep prospects. But, I have to confess, I'm not that impressed by this trial ballon.

First, there are the people Pawlenty has tapped to float it. One Pawlenty booster who spoke to Martin, former Minnesota Congressman and current lobbyist Vin Weber, isn't someone McCain is likely to spend much time listening to, seeing as how he was a prominent Romney supporter. And then there's this one:

Sara Taylor, former White House political director and a veteran of
both Bush-Cheney campaigns, contacted this reporter to offer
unsolicited observations on the governor.

Declining to say how she got wind of the story, Taylor lavished praise
on Pawlenty. "By far, he's the strongest candidate" to serve as
McCain's running mate, she said.

"He's a conservative, rock-n-roll Republican and is counterintuitive to
the party stereotype that we're old and rich,” says Taylor, who
recalled visiting St. Paul and finding the governor jamming in his
office to recording artist Bruce Springsteen. “He's young and
blue-collar."

Okay, put aside for a moment the fact that the last time a Republican tried to align himself with Springsteen, the Boss slapped him down. Does Pawlenty really want Sara Taylor--this Sara Taylor--making his case? 

Finally, there's this:

Two phrases tend to pop up in every Pawlenty profile: “truck driver” and “hockey.” 

I'll give Pawlenty the "truck driver" thing, but, last time I checked, "hockey" doesn't exactly conjure up images of political success. If Pawlenty wants to be McCain's running mate, he's going to have to do better than this.

--Jason Zengerle 

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13 comments

I love it when a Republican's idea of "cool" would have maybe applied twenty-five years ago.  They really are the party of your lame dad.

- ejbenjamin

February 18, 2008 at 9:27am

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Given Pawlenty's ties to Jon Grunseth, and the GOP's ongoing problems with inappropriate sexual behavior, I wouldn't let him near my ticket. (Google Grunseth to learn about the origins of the Larry Craig wing of the GOP -- Pawlenty is Grunseth's political heir.)

Besides, choosing just another white guy could be fatal for McCain. There aren't any black Republicans who can be taken seriously as a national campaign right now, and McCain probably loses more than he gains from a Latino running mate, so it's gotta be a woman. And not Liddy Dole, who would look like the cynical token appointment she would be. If I were McCain, my short list would look like this:

Gov. Sarah Palin (Alaska), Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (Washington), and Rep. Jean Schmidt (Ohio). Listed in increasing order of activist-conservative credibility.

- rhubarbs

February 18, 2008 at 10:20am

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Rhubarbs: I'll admit that I don't know much about the people on your list, but they don't seem like heavy hitters. Given that McCain will be 72 if and when he's inaugurated, it strikes me as necessary to be able to take a VP who would be prepared to take the lead in case of emergency. Of course, such considerations did not affect the calculus of FDR in 44. We lucked out there. But can that group of relative unknowns really help McCain in a national race. The only reason I know Schmidt is due to her contest with Paul Hackett a few years back. Why not a big swing state pol like Pawlenty or Charlie Crist. Doesn't McCain want to reach into blue territory--or at least purple territory. Taking Crist probably locks up FL. Anyway, is it fair to say the the GOP has a weak bench?

- propositionjoe

February 18, 2008 at 10:43am

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Pawlenty would be a good choice for McCain if you're not rooting for McCain.

Pawlenty is smart and good on his feet - he can think standing up - and he's funny. He's also fairly moderate, talks a lot about nurturing the creative class, the need for innovation...a sort of Joe Six-Pack version of Jeff Immelt at GE. That's why Weber and the rest of the GOP Establishment likes him, it's as if Jeb Bush went into a witness protection program and ermerged as Tim, the governor of Minneosta. The neocons, theocons, and Big Business can all work with Pawlenty.

So what's the problem? He has no passion. He plays to win, not to lead. He's very likeable when in a crowd that likes him, but when challenged, he gets snarky. He's not good at building coalitions - he succeeds by being affable.

Time for a Change, Time for Leadership. Time for Pawlenty? Not really. Picking Pawlenty would be a mistake for the GOP.

- fougasseu

February 18, 2008 at 11:02am

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I've heard of Palin (mind you, I'd be more supportive of Michael Palin, but that's another issue), but the other two are quite anonymous.  And if Hillary Rodham Clinton got into trouble back in the day over that Rodham part, why is someone named Cathy McMorris Rodgers exempt from a similar snit in the wives-submit-to-your-husbands GOD (sorry, GOP) Party?

Might Rick Perry of Texas be a darkhorse? Or even McCain's ol' buddy Sam Brownback?  (Didn't say they were good choices, just possible surprise choices.)

- cspencef

February 18, 2008 at 11:29am

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propjoe, you make a good point, and one that I suspect would carry more weight with the actual McCain campaign than it would with me. I just don't think "credibility" is something that McCain lacks. And, the honest truth is that your average American citizen, picked at random, would make an adequate president.

Governor Palin has shown effective executive leadership, both in general and within her otherwise nearly moribund state party. She doesn't have a long record, but she's effectively batting .300 in triple-A right now, making her a prospect nobody should be afraid to promote to the big leagues. Representatives McMorris-Rodgers and Schmidt are more in the traditional backbencher mode. But both are relatively dynamic (for Republicans). Schmidt is about as much a hardcore righty true believer as there is, and she's winning in a critical swing state where the rest of the local GOP more or less committed mass suicide over the last several years.

McMorris-Rodgers is the mom candidate. She's a reliable conservative, but she has a much more moderate "presence" than Schmidt. She won't help McCain carry her home state, but she could help significantly in the mountain West, and if the GOP can't reverse the Democratic trend in the mountain West, it will become a consistently losing Southern regional party. McMorris-Rodgers recently had a child with Down Syndrome. That right there probably seals the deal for doubting Christian conservative voters.

All three women are young enough to counter McCain's decrepit-geezer vibe, and all three would put a new face on a party that desperately needs to convince voters that they're not voting for the same Republicans they elected the last few times around. All three, if introduced properly, would be perfectly credible presidents-in-waiting. Maybe nobody's first choice, but the one thing the Republican primaries show is that the GOP doesn't have any first-choice presidential candidates.

Would I bet against McCain picking yet another pasty-faced white guy like Pawlenty of Crist, or an obvious token like Colin Powell, Condi Rice, or Liddy Dole? Absolutely not. I know that's what he probably will do. I just don't think that's what he should do, if he's interested in winning the election. Then again, I'm zero-for-always in predicting VP picks.

- rhubarbs

February 18, 2008 at 11:35am

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Condi's not a token. Anyone who survives as long as she has at the very pinnacle of Washington's power pyramid is whip-smart.

I still think McCain would be smart to pick Bobby Jindal. He negates Obama's freshness/youth and race-based arguments in one fell swoop, and he's got much more executive experience than Obama.

- teplukhin2you

February 18, 2008 at 11:59am

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Tep, I don't mean to suggest that Condi is a token now, or ever has been. She's not, and it's not even plausible to suggest that there's even a whiff of tokenism in her appointment or her service.

But picking her to be vice president would make no sense in any way other than as a cynical token appointment. She has never run for office and she has no record of public accomplishment. She herself would never be a mere token, but the decision to name her to the VP spot could only be the result of transparent, cynical "tokenism" on the part of the person making the appointment.

- rhubarbs

February 18, 2008 at 12:24pm

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"Mean" Jean Schmidt?  The one who questioned Jack Murtha's patriotism on the floor of the House?  The one who's been in Washington barely two years now?  Palin and McMorris-Rodgers, maybe.  Schmidt?  No chance in Hell.

- Brent

February 18, 2008 at 1:01pm

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Humorously aside, Pawlenty may qualify, but have you seen Crist lately?  White guy, yes, but most definitely not "pasty-faced."

- cspencef

February 18, 2008 at 1:46pm

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The blogosphere would have a field day with Mean Jean.  Sorry, but she'd be about as smart a pick as that loony Florida woman Cruella de Vil, what was her name, Katherine Harris?

Bobby Jindal would be a good strategic choice but he's been governor for about two weeks.  I'm not sure if you can walk away from a job like that so soon after being sworn in. Ok, in July he will have been governor for six months, but still.

- stgla

February 18, 2008 at 2:21pm

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I'm not keen on his ideology but given the complete cesspool that is Lousiana politics, I'd bet that Jindal could accomplish more in 9 months than the likes of Blanco, Edwards, their ilk could accomplish in 9 years. He's superbly talented.

- teplukhin2you

February 18, 2008 at 2:34pm

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I'm from Minnesota, and for more than a year the local media has been hyping the fact that Pawlenty was a leading veep candidate for McCain.  I failed to find it ANYWHERE in the national MSM or blogosphere even though the local media insisted it was there.  So now it is I guess.

- achester99

February 18, 2008 at 2:55pm

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