Pawlenty Decides Against Running Again
By Nicole Belle Tuesday Jun 02, 2009 4:00pmMinnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty held a press conference this afternoon to tell the media that he's not planning on running for a third term for governor.
A source close to Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty confirms to First Read that Pawlenty will announce today that he will not be running for a third term in 2010.
This announcement, of course, will raise speculation about whether Pawlenty plans to spend the next three years preparing for a presidential bid in 2012.[..]
Pawlenty gave a firebrand speech at the Republican Governor’s Association meeting in Miami, a week after the party’s sound November election losses. He gave some tough medicine to the party, saying, “It needs to get younger, more diverse and build a broader coalition,” we wrote at the time. "If we're going to successfully travel the road, as a Republican,” he said at the time, “we need to see clearly, and be honest about where we've been and where we're headed. … If we're going to be the majority, we're going to have to see we need to grow the party. We cannot compete in the Northeast, the West; we're losing seats in the Great Lakes region. We have a large deficit with women, Hispanics, African Americans -- people with modest financial circumstances. That is not a formula for a majority." In the halls at the meeting, Pawlenty was lukewarm toward another potential 2012 GOP candidate, Sarah Palin. In fact, during his speech “he delivered a line that might sound like an opening 2012 shot at Palin,” we wrote then.
"'Drill baby, drill' by itself is not an energy policy," he said. "It's not enough. We're going to need wind and solar and bio mass."
Pawlenty neglects to mention that even if he did dare try for a third term, he'd be unlikely to win re-election. Just a few days ago he acknowledged to local press that winning a third term would be an uphill battle, even though last year he has said he'd make his decision in early '09. His continued support of Coleman hasn't helped him at all in his state. The Minnesota DFLs tell Pawlenty "Don't let the door hit you..."
"While we thank Gov. Pawlenty for his service to our state, his retirement as governor is an opportunity to move Minnesota forward," a statement from DFL chair Brian Melendez said.
"Gov. Pawlenty's 'no new taxes' ideology plays well to Republican special interests and the dinner circuits from Iowa to New Hampshire, but it has hurt Minnesota and Minnesotans. The divisive politics of ideology and calculation have done enough damage."
The "Iowa to New Hampshire" reference was a dig at Pawlenty's frequently speculated-upon desire to seek national office in 2012.
"Minnesota faces incredible challenges: a historic multibillion-dollar deficit, disappearing jobs, skyrocketing health care costs and rising property taxes," Melendez went on. "We need a leader who will face these problems with courage and honesty, and won't hide behind clever word games, accounting shifts and budget tricks. We need a leader who understands Minnesota values: accountability, opportunity, prosperity and fair play.
"Today is a day to thank Gov. Pawlenty for his service. Starting tomorrow, it will be time to bring Minnesota values back to the governor's mansion. We look forward with hope. We look forward to electing a DFL governor."
During the presser, Pawlenty finally did admit that he will do whatever the courts ask and not hold up the Senate certificate any longer.
Login or Register to post comments.
This sack of dog crap will never see national office. He's been a disaster for our state. This dickhead tried his hardest to turn our state into another Mississippi. One last note, he never recieved 50% of the vote either time he was elected. Thanks to the bullshit independent candidate he became governor.
Doesn't "MN" stand for Mississippi North, so it can be differentiated from "MS", Mississippi South? (Except for the 30° below zero, of course.) Heck, they share a river, why not everything else?
So how does that affect Al Franken's election?
MN Supreme Court should rule soon, it appears to in favor of Franken.
Pawlenty has already said he'll sign the necessary papers to put Franken through.
*
that's changed now. He doesn't have to face the voters now.
he can screw franken with complete impunity now.
and because he has national ambitions, he has a motive to placate and pander to the fucktard right by being an obstructionist.
franken'll be lucky if he EVER gets seated.
Yes - it's changed - and he might not feel like he has to --- but he DID say he would sign it - not that he might - but that he would.
If he does NOT sign it now - he's going back on his word. Both not signing it and reneging on his promise will make him look even worse than he does now.
*
"he said he would"
and when do repubs not screw over
their constituents? ALWAYS
That anyone would vote for a republican twice.
You would think that getting burned once would be enough for any idiot? Unless they are republican or republichristian. Then all bets are off. They don't believe in facts only myth and bullshit. They eat it up in the name of god.
republicanism is a mental illness!
This just guarantees he will not certify Franken's win, because he has nothing to lose now.
When did you ever know a Republican to do the right thing?
My thoughts exactly.
What's he gonna do for the next 3 years? Not certify Al, that's what.
see below...
n/t
He recently said he'll sign the certification based on the Supreme Court's decision.
Looks like Coleman is going to have to do toothpaste commercials.
*
quoted as saying, "I had Paw-lenty of time to think about it."
Sorry...I couldn't resist...
I cannot think of one time in the last ten years when a republican did the right thing or even a good thing for anyone other than themselves.
It's their whole reason for getting into government in the first place to take advantage. I don't think there is one republican in washington that is there for any other reason then greed.
republicanism is a mental illness!
I watched his speech live today on TV. As he spoke, the Dow Stock average was going up, up, up!
Sign of recovery? Ha, ha, ha!!
when i first heard this news, i opined at TP that he probably would not seat franken because now he doesn't need to care about what minnesotans want and it would be bonus points for a prez campaign...
we'll see, huh...
...take that worthless Carol Molnau with you.
We haven't forgotten 8/1/07. Should you run, you will hear about it on the campaign trail.
Okay - so I'm stupid. I don't know what the Minnesota DFL is.
Would you all please stop assuming we ALL have the meaning, of all the acronyms, at our disposal? What's wrong with the standard of spelling the words out once and THEN start using the acronyms?
*`
Democratic Farm-Labor DFL
Thanks!
*
republicans only care about getting elected. After that they could care less about what you think.
They are all lying sacks of shit. No offense to shit!
They only run for office for the money!
With people like whorin hatch, bitch mcconnell, harlen specter, we don't need enemies. We have all the enemies we can stand in the republican party.
republicanism is a mental illness. That's a fact!
I have watched the dog and pony show that has been the non-seating of Al Franken to the US Senate by this stooge. He has demonstrated in the open that he puts the will of his party above the will of the people.
Its all the reason I will ever require to not vote for him should he seek the Presidency.
Pawlenty is very pleasant, likeable, well spoken, knowledgeable (when compared to Palin), and good looking; none of these attributes will take from the ingrained decision that most Americans have of him. He could have be decisive in his states senate prolonged disasterous and distasteful delayed seating of Franken; however, he chose to toe the line and cow down to GOP interests ahead of his state and country. Self serving ideologs from the Republican party, afraid to speak for themselves and politically enslaved to their parties whims are hardly qualities in a president that we want to go through again. Pawlenty represents the same talking point Limbaugh apologist cowards that abound in the Republican party. He is their brown nose poster boy. Go ahead and run him; the GOP hasn't made a sensible decision in years anyways and the American public can see right through their selections and policy goals. Great choice, just means they'll lose again.
He has demonstrated in the open that he puts the will of his party above the will of the people.
Lotta places--mainly in the GOPuke wing of the Party of Privilege and Property, but not exclusively--that's not a glitch, it's an app.
This is what Franklin meant when he said the USA was "a republic, if you can keep it." The keeping's the trick...
the opportunity has always been there for some group or interest o game the system. but until about 1980, checks and balances were respected just about equally on both sides of the aisle, excepting mebbe Nixon.
But with Raygun, a group of really unscrupulous people moved in. They'd SEEN that the system could indeed be gamed, and pretty easily at that. After Sept, '01, the Busheviks more or less set up a functioning--albeit camouflaged--dictatorship. The only reason for you not to have known that was if you were not in their scopes, on their lists. If you were, you knew.
It's not over yet--though absent a Cheney, Obama seems at least (but not nearly enough) ill-at-ease with the dilemma of his power. In the real world, there is no going back to a less corrupted politics. The cards now have to be played according to the new rules. The GOPuke wing of the Party of Privilege and Property (mainly) have redefined the playing field, moved the goal-posts, changed the shape and dimensions, and substituted a turd for the ball. CalvinBall!
And Obama is not really in a position to relinquish power. Were I he, probably I wouldn't either. He's in a tough spot. About now, 6 months in, almost, it's come to him that he's not writing the script. That's not in his hands. Probably he's never before completely recognized the cosmic Irony bequeathed to their 'children' by the 'founding fathers' of a system founded on notions of honor and good faith under supervision when those constraints no longer impede one faction.
..a few things to chew on and think about. Thanks.
pawlenty is a joke. he's got about as much of a chance of being president as gilligan.
We already had our Gilligan.
I guess that makes Cheney the Skipper.
And that is as far as I wish to take that metaphor.
Cheers.
Was that an admission then that he HAD been 'holding up' the Senate certificate?
What a creep.
Only one order of business left before he leaves. Election theft for ole candlewax face.
Tim Paw has been great at following orders from the Grover wing of the Republican party but that's it. He has taken a socially progressive state with a surplus and turned us into Mississippi North (apologies to MS). Instead of leading through a recession and explaining what needs to be cut and what revenues need to be raised, working with the Democrats and arriving at a consensus, he has chosen to become our King and rule via dictate. All hail King Tim or perhaps more appropriatly Tim Jong Il.
Like you said, he isn't a leader. A leader, even a bad one, would DO SOMETHING. Pawlenty has done absolutely ZERO in his time in office. He has taken no actions other than to veto legislation and to block any attempts at cooperation and compromise. In that regard he is ideally suited to be a GOP candidate.
FYI for non-Minnesotans, you will hear him touting his "no new taxes" philosophy. That includes a huge cigarette tax that he actually signed into law. He refers to it as a "fee" to keep his "no new taxes" record appearing spotless.
Weaknesses include poor attempts at prop comedy and a fondness for bad 80's haircuts.
This guy is a hard-subscriber to the neocon agenda, make no mistake about it. He has taken Minnesota from a place of envy and drilled it into the ground. Every difficult decision he has been faced with, he has punted to the counties and cities. He takes the State's budget deficit and shifts it straight to the local entities. That's not leadership, it's passing the buck.
However, beware, this guy is a political survivor. He knows how to play the game. Just look at the "unallotment" stunt he pulled in the Minnesota Legislature this session. It raises my hackles, but it's pure political genius.
..of Republicans saying that "if we're going to grow the party we need to ________________". But filling in the blank is invariably reduced down to getting some warm bodies. They know they've got a problem, but they aren't willing to acknowledge what their real problem is.
They've become a party that has devolved to the point that it is now guided by the worst, most base and most degraded of human impulses, with the party's elected leaders and faithful ever-willing and ready to act those impulses outthrough their public and private behavior. The continually dwindling segment of thinking people who remain Republican are disassociating themselves from the party in growing numbers, because what the party stands for at its core has finally gotten so bad that it has become repugnant and repellant to any Republican possessing any remnant of conscience (Pawlenty may, possibly but not likely, be an example of that). The Republican Party is single-mindedly distilling itself down to an essence that is malign and odious; only the most malignant of our society continue to feel at home in it. The only warm bodies they're likely to find are more of the same...the maladjusted and socially pathological.
As that process continues, it becomes less and less likely that they will ever do what they most need to do if they wish to survive: repudiate everything they've come to stand for in the last 40 years. Not going to happen.
They are losing themselves in a death spiral, a trap from which I do not believe they will escape.
That's seems good for the Democrats, until it is considered that the disaffected Republicans will likely join/infiltrate the Democratic Party and use their influence to steer the party even further to the right, making it more corporatist, more militarist and less mindful of the Constitution, less mindful of the various facets of justice. Their influence will be corrupting. The ranks of Blue Dogs and DINO's, who will work to suppress truly progressive or liberal objectives, will gradually expand over the next 10-15 years. Absent a Democratic Party electorate that is consistantly willing to hold elected officials' feet to the fire, or absent the arrival upon the scene of a viable third party that is progressive and liberal, the ultimate effect will be a limiting of both democracy and liberty.
This is not going to be a time to sit back and gloat about the decline and unraveling of the Republican Party.
Understanding you have a MORON for Governor who would rather throw a double lip lock on the zipper of a like minded HATE MONGER than do his job which would call for Intestinal Fortitude (RNC) Racist Nazi Committee member that isn't going to happen)he is a COWARD and as far as the National scene goes we in Colorado and Texas can NOT support a WRM or Weasel.
Anyway why not make this COWARDS life exciting RECALL vote and bust the Racist Nazi Committee in MN.
Look, if Pawlenty really wants to run in 2012, then he is going to need more than just the party faithful. If he continues stalling by letting this go the U.S. Supreme Court, and the either rule for Frankin or send it back to the state courts, Pawlenty is finished. This is something that can easily come back to haunt him in a presidential campaign. Something like this for a politcal survivor like him is not something he would want going into general elections with.
Login or Register to post comments.