Tim Pawlenty....

[All Along The Watchtower]

Does anyone else see Pawlenty winning the GOP primary? He seems to appeal to all of their constituencies, just by looking at his record. Conservative on both fiscal and social issues, and he doesn't have the "Mormon" factor that Romney deals with (mainly via Huckabee's anti-Mormon statements).

Also, he doesn't have any regional weaknesses among the GOP electorate.

I see him as being the least offensive candidate to any of the GOP voters-something of a compromise candidate.

[Poundingtherock]

No I don't.

Then again, I think the primary is done if the candidates are Palin, Romney, Pawlenty, and [insert anyone not named Mike Huckabee here?]

[The Age Wave]

Pawlenty, I think, has what it takes to win.

[Mr. Morden]

He hasn't yet shown how he'll hold up in a national campaign, so I'm not ready to call him the frontrunner.  But I do consider him the biggest threat to Romney, yes:

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=98957.0

[evan bayh]

if palin and romney are the front runners,pawlenty can be the underdog even if i read that he is so boring in his speeches

[Guderian]

Pawlenty will probably try to position himself as a compromise between Palin and Romney. Iowa caucus is do or die for him, he needs to win it to be a viable candidate.

[useful idiot]

He's as milquetoast as they come, but given the weak field he has a shot. I'm jumping on the Thune bandwagon though(not that I'd support him, I just think that if he gets in the race he'll win the nomination).

[Guderian]

I would really like to see Pawlenty's numbers against Obama and in particular the Minnesota numbers.

[segwaystyle2012]

Tim Pawlenty doesn't have what it takes to change the political landscape the way Gary Johnson does. If the GOP wants to reuse their failed formulas from the last 5 elections, we will see a strengthening of the Blue Firewall. Gary Johnson is one of the few people who can begin a reversal of this trend.

[useful idiot]

Tim Pawlenty doesn't have what it takes to change the political landscape the way Gary Johnson does. If the GOP wants to reuse their failed formulas from the last 5 elections, we will see a strengthening of the Blue Firewall. Gary Johnson is one of the few people who can begin a reversal of this trend.

Are you related to him or something? The guy might be the best thing since sliced bread, but you wouldn't know because none of us knows a damn thing about him other than that he was governor for 8 years and he supports drug legalization. Unless you worked in politics in NM during his terms or were a reporter covering NM politics, then I doubt you can really make a strong case.

Ron Paul had a proven track record and more libertarian/paleo-conservative credentials than anyone. That's why I find it so disconcerting that his supporters are jumping on the bandwagon of an unknown quantity...

[Brittain33]

Being an uninteresting default candidate with good geography does not win you a nomination with actual interesting candidates.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Being an uninteresting default candidate with good geography does not win you a nomination with actual interesting candidates.

Completely agree........do you think he'd be a good #2 on a ticket?  I do.  Uninteresting with no baggage and good geography wouldn't hurt for the VP slot

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I would really like to see Pawlenty's numbers against Obama and in particular the Minnesota numbers.

That has been polled, even though it's a garbage uni poll: http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/70304667.html

Whatever the case, Obama's approval ratings are higher. Pawlenty is not popular at all now and is at a net disapproval, and that's likely to increase as he works more toward the GOP nomination than actually governing the state.

[Sasquatch]

Too boring.

Right now, he's what Mark Warner was in 2005....a boring underdog.

[Brittain33]

Completely agree........do you think he'd be a good #2 on a ticket?  I do.  Uninteresting with no baggage and good geography wouldn't hurt for the VP slot

Yeah, he seems solid for that. Should have been in '08.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

Completely agree........do you think he'd be a good #2 on a ticket?  I do.  Uninteresting with no baggage and good geography wouldn't hurt for the VP slot

Yeah, he seems solid for that. Should have been in '08.

Many agree.......my god that would have been a boring ticket though.

[minionofmidas]

Being an uninteresting default candidate with good geography does not win you a nomination with actual interesting candidates.

Completely agree... but no actual interesting candidates (except Gary Johnson, who'd do utterly fantastic to repeat Paul's showing) are anywhere to be seen.

[Brittain33]

Being an uninteresting default candidate with good geography does not win you a nomination with actual interesting candidates.

Completely agree... but no actual interesting candidates (except Gary Johnson, who'd do utterly fantastic to repeat Paul's showing) are anywhere to be seen.

I'd class Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and of course Sarah Palin as interesting. Not enthralling and certainly not super-popular, but they can keep Pawlenty off the menu.

[ARescan]

I'd love to see Governor Pawlenty win and I think he can. I could see him picking up a lot of support over the 2 years until the election.

[All Along The Watchtower]

To those who say Pawlenty is not interesting, I'd ask:

Who else can win all the GOP constituencies?

[Brittain33]

To those who say Pawlenty is not interesting, I'd ask:

Who else can win all the GOP constituencies?

I think that anyone except Palin can count on all GOP constituencies to come home in November 2012. Even Huckabee would get their reluctant support, it's the nature of polarization these days. The question is to what extent people will be enthusiastic. There are concerns that Romney will dim enthusiasm among some cultural conservatives. What I would say is that it's hard to see Pawlenty inspiring enthusiasm among anyone--something other Republican candidates can do. And I don't see him winning over independents on anything but a generic R basis.

[Хahar 🤔]

Pawlenty makes Fred Thompson look interesting.

[Speaker Perez]

i see him winning that nomination at the convention. If pawlenty wins the nomination I'll vote for him.

[Larry T]

He may not be the best potential candidate, but Tim gives us a chance to win Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ioowa.