Pawlenty 2012

[auburntiger]

I think Pawlenty would be a great pick! Although, I am expecting Obama to win re-election in four years, and I base that on the wide range of support he had this year. So instead of Obama winning by 6.5%, I'll cut his margin down to 3.5%, still a clear margin of victory. And here's what that would look like:

301/237 Obama-Biden vs. Pawlenty-Daniels??

[MR maverick]

I think Pawlenty would be a great pick! Although, I am expecting Obama to win re-election in four years, and I base that on the wide range of support he had this year. So instead of Obama winning by 6.5%, I'll cut his margin down to 3.5%, still a clear margin of victory. And here's what that would look like:

301/237 Obama-Biden vs. Pawlenty-Daniels??

Why would Obama lose IA?

Honestly I could see Obama taking MN too.

[JSojourner]

Pawlenty impresses me as a thoughtful, reasonably articulate guy.  Conservative, but not a Tom Coburn or Jim DeMint.  He will be a logical candidate, if not for the Presidential nomination, then as someone's running mate.

That a Senator was destined to be our next President was unusual.  And I think Governors (in both parties) are going to move back into the fore as Presidential politics ratchet up approaching 2012 and/or 2016.

[Bacon King]

Baby Bush said he was Socially Conservative, but I have seem him idle on most Social Issues, except Iraq.

He did get 2 conservative justices on the Supreme Court.  And I believe his ONLY veto in the first term was on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (I could be wrong).  And how is Iraq a social issue? 

I think he's been a pretty consistent social conservative.  That's about the only thing he has been consistent on.

True, but I think he only did those things not to lose election and stay cool with the South. The recent 2008 election shows a Social Moderate with Fiscal Conservatism loses if they are Republican.

The only thing 2008 shows is that John McCain can't win if he is John McCain. Lol, don't try to make some sort of broad, far-reaching conclusions based on a single guy's defeat.

[Workers' Friend]

Baby Bush said he was Socially Conservative, but I have seem him idle on most Social Issues, except Iraq.

He did get 2 conservative justices on the Supreme Court.  And I believe his ONLY veto in the first term was on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research (I could be wrong).  And how is Iraq a social issue? 

I think he's been a pretty consistent social conservative.  That's about the only thing he has been consistent on.

True, but I think he only did those things not to lose election and stay cool with the South. The recent 2008 election shows a Social Moderate with Fiscal Conservatism loses if they are Republican.

The only thing 2008 shows is that John McCain can't win if he is John McCain. Lol, don't try to make some sort of broad, far-reaching conclusions based on a single guy's defeat.

Try telling me that if us Republicans lose in 2012 if we nominate another Moderate.

[BM]

Pawlenty Maneuvers With Governors and Press At GOP Governors Conference
by  Jack Thompson
11/14/2008

By Friday afternoon, Gov. Sarah Palin had already left sunny and warm Miami, as well as the cold shoulder she got from at least one governor running for president, to return to freezing but politically warmer Alaska.

Palin skipped the governors’ vote this morning that elected, HUMAN EVENTS has just learned, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford the new chair of the Republican Governors Association, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour vice-chair, and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist chair of the RGA’s February 2009 Annual Gala in Washington, D.C.

HUMAN EVENTS was first to report yesterday that RGA Chair, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, remarkably and clumsily cut short Palin’s press conference and turned the huge media throng here into an angry, shouting crowd.
Continued

After HUMAN EVENTS reported the halting of Palin’s press conference, corroboration of our take on what happened came from another media source: “Another Republican governor eyeing a presidential run in 2012 told CNN the event [Palin’s press conference] was ‘odd’ and ‘weird,’ and said it "unfortunately sent a message that she was the de facto leader of the party." NBC News, which falsely reported last night that it was Palin who wanted the news conference cut short, has corrected itself this morning on Today.

The only thing “odd” and “weird” to this reporter, who was less than ten feet from this fiasco was that any of these eight other governors were even on the stage with Palin. This was, according to the RGA Press Guidelines, to be her show, her time, and her opportunity to make a splash “for twenty minutes of questions and answers from Governor Palin.” Surely none of these other governors thought the media were there to quiz them. They were in the way, which was precisely why they were there.

Confirmation of this gubernatorial envy and obstruction of Palin comes from RGA Communications Director Chris Schrimpf, who tells HUMAN EVENTS this morning in Miami: “The governors were there on the stage to make sure the media focused on 2010 rather than on any one governor.”

The “Republican governor eyeing a presidential run in 2012” appears to be Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty used his time at yesterday’s roundtable discussion to cast himself as the “modern” Republican while casting aspersions on the traditional conservative message, calling for outreach to the “new demographics,” deriding the GOP for allegedly being 15 years behind in the use of the Internet, and calling for the party not to be led by “a crank.” Pawlenty appears to have John McCain’s penchant for attacking conservatives rather than those in the other party.

Pawlenty in Miami was publicly angry, agitated, and even cranky, possibly because he found himself at odds with the far more conservative tone of every other speaker here. Hundreds of RGA members, who paid thousands of dollars to attend this Conference, wildly applauded “red meat” conservative pronouncements by speakers and not the more moderate and conservative-jabbing words by Pawlenty. And then there’s his “Palin problem,” real or imagined, that hit the fan yesterday in front of the national media, possibly upon the insistence of Pawlenty himself, as the above-reported comments to CNN by an anonymous presidential aspirant indicate.

One thing that seems clear in the wake of this sun-washed post-election Republican Governors Conference in Miami: If Sarah Palin makes a run for the White House in 2012, she’s going to have to overcome, as she did in Alaska, a “good ol’ boy network” that may not yet be comfortable with a Republican star in lipstick. Despite Hillary Clinton’s and her supporters’ charges of sexism during her primary run, nobody stepped in front of her to end one of her press conferences.

Palin chose not to have in Miami a Reagan-esque New Hampshire moment by saying something akin to “I’m paying for this microphone,” but that moment may come if anybody ever again tries to get between Sarah Palin and the national media -- or something else she wants.

[paul718]

Neither Sarah Palin nor Tim Pawlenty will win the nomination.

[Wall St. Wiz]

Pawlenty really impressed me this year, I think he would have been a great asset and advoctate for McCain.  He's thoughtful, has a good personality, and can speak on any issue facing the country.  

He's definitely VP caliber, at minimum.  I'm not sure if he would be able to captivate and inspire people though like all successful presidential candidates do

[auburntiger]

I think Pawlenty would be a great pick! Although, I am expecting Obama to win re-election in four years, and I base that on the wide range of support he had this year. So instead of Obama winning by 6.5%, I'll cut his margin down to 3.5%, still a clear margin of victory. And here's what that would look like:

301/237 Obama-Biden vs. Pawlenty-Daniels??

Why would Obama lose IA?

Honestly I could see Obama taking MN too.

Here are my thoughts on Iowa
1. Bush 2004 state, and demographics haven't changed. McCain was a bad candidate for Iowa in a very Democratic year. It didn't really shift much relative to the national average. and Obama underperformed on Election Night, not by much, but the race was still single digits.
2. Pawlenty is a midwesterner. Neighboring state effect??? It sure worked in Indiana for Obama.
3. Republicans will start to invest heavily in this region, since they can no longer count on the southwest. I say that because Nevada and New Mexico were blowouts for Obama (and Colorado is headed that way), and without a native-son, Arizona might be there too in the future. Minnesota and Iowa were both closer margins than NV and NM.

Minnesota:
1. Pawlenty must be doing something right there to win two terms and have a 55% approval rating. They like him. yeah the GOP hasn't won here since 1972, but with a favorite son, I don't see why it can't flip.

however, I do have both IA and MN in the >40% range, because I do think they would be very close.

[phk]

He's an intelligent guy, but probably too dry to win the nomination in a pool of very dynamic governors who will be clawing their way to the top.

This.. But outside of Huntsman and Jindal, who else is 'exciting' or 'dynamic'?

[MK]

Pawlenty really impressed me this year, I think he would have been a great asset and advoctate for McCain.  He's thoughtful, has a good personality, and can speak on any issue facing the country.  

He's definitely VP caliber, at minimum.  I'm not sure if he would be able to captivate and inspire people though like all successful presidential candidates do

I kinda like him, although he's dull.

If Obama has a pretty good 4 years he would be the best lamb and wouldn't get blown out by 45 states like Palin would.


He's the Gops best chance right now.

[Mr. Morden]

Pawlenty Maneuvers With Governors and Press At GOP Governors Conference
by  Jack Thompson
11/14/2008

By Friday afternoon, Gov. Sarah Palin had already left sunny and warm Miami, as well as the cold shoulder she got from at least one governor running for president, to return to freezing but politically warmer Alaska.

So we're already transitioning from "may consider running for president" to "running for president" in November 2008?

[The Populist]

Pawlenty is the kind of Republican I could consider voting for (unlike a certain other Governor at the conference).

[Lunar]

Pawlenty would make a great sidekick (read: VP), but I doubt that he has enough excitement about him to storm a primary victory.  I find him likable though.

[Mr. Morden]

Pawlenty would make a great sidekick (read: VP).....

After the fiasco with Palin, I think any presidential nominee would be reluctant to pick any running mate who has never had to pontificate on national issues (as opposed to state issues) before.  Hence, I think Pawlenty would be a viable contender for VP only if he first runs for president in 2012 (which, yeah, he probably will).  If he doesn't, then you'd really be rolling the dice as to how he performs on the national stage.

The other problem with Pawlenty as VP is that virtually all of the potential GOP presidential contenders are governors, and I'm not sure you're going to see a ticket with two governors.  Traditionally, a governor picks someone with Washington experience to balance the ticket.

[paul718]

After the fiasco with Palin, I think any presidential nominee would be reluctant to pick any running mate who has never had to pontificate on national issues (as opposed to state issues) before.  Hence, I think Pawlenty would be a viable contender for VP only if he first runs for president in 2012 (which, yeah, he probably will).  If he doesn't, then you'd really be rolling the dice as to how he performs on the national stage.

I'm not a big Pawlenty fan, but I think he has a decent grasp of nat'l issues.  Much better than Palin, at least.  As co-chair of the McCain campaign, he was almost a weekly regular on the Sunday morning TV circuit, defending policy and debating opposing viewpoints.

[auburntiger]

He's the safe choice.