Posts Tagged → Tim Pawlenty
Bachmann, Pawlenty square off
If all Michelle Bachmann accomplishes in her run for the White House is delineate the difference between the real conservatives and the John McCain/Mitt Romney-style RINOs, she’ll have done the nation a huge service. Her first chance to accomplish that came last night at a debate in Iowa between the eight declared GOP presidential candidates. (Texas Gov. Rick Perry did not attend, as he intends to announce his official campaign on Saturday.)
After the floundering campaign of former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty took the first swipe last night, accusing Bachmann of accomplishing nothing more than “she’s got a record of misstating and making false statements.” Pawlenty, who is polling in the single digits, seems to have fixated on discrediting Bachmann to lift his own profile, rather than focusing on front-runner Mitt Romney.
But Bachmann refused to wear Cherokee scrubs and play the role of Pawlenty’s punching bag, countering his weak, unfocused, non-specific criticisms with specific issues she took with the way the Governor governed while in power in Minnesota.
Bachmann pointed out that Pawlenty implemented a state cap-and-trade energy policy, praised President Barack Obama’s “unconstitutional individual mandate” that will requires all Americans to buy health insurance, and quoted Pawlenty as uttering the phrase, “the era of small government is over.”
“That sounds more like Barack Obama, if you ask me,” Bachmann said, capping the list of Pawlenty’s left-wing prevaricating.
Of course, for Bachmann, upending Pawlenty’s history of RINOism is like shooting fish in a barrel; he’s from her own state and her knowledge of his shortcomings comes from first-hand experience. With Bachmann emerging from the debate still impressive and relatively unscathed, she’ll need to move on soon to a new target.
Lord knows, there are plenty of weak-willed RINOs still in the race, like Jon Huntsman, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, and most importantly, current front-runner Mitt Romney.
Let’s be honest; Rick Perry is probably the best-qualified to take on Barack Obama. He has ingratiated himself to the Tea Party, has executive experience by winning three consecutive terms as Texas Governor, and is a solid conservative suspicious of the overreaching aspects of federal power, a devoted Constitutionalist.
The best scenario is for Bachmann to act as the conservative bulldog, revealing the unclothed emperors in the GOP field and helping clear the way for Perry to win the nomination. Then, if he could select Bachmann or Herman Cain, either way, the GOP would have a virtually unbeatable ticket that would be the best the nation has seen since Reagan-Bush.
Now that he’s not running, T-Paw supports Vikings stadium
When he’s not whizzing around the country pretending to be a front-runner for the 2012 GOP Presidential nomination, or enjoying some Myrtle beach golf, Tim Pawlenty has built his political credentials around being a fiscal conservative… which is good, considering he’s John McCain Jr. in almost every other respect.
But now that he’s not running for re-election in Minnesota, Pawlenty has finally voiced support for a new Vikings stadium to ensure the state keeps the team beyond their current lease at the Metrodome, which expires in less than two years, in 2011.
The clock is ticking and now that he’s virtually irrelevant in state politics, now T-Paw supports a stadium? Sorry, but that’s weak support at best. The Vikings should always have made more sense to build a stadium for than the Twins; having Brett Favre at QB shouldn’t make such a difference.
Of course, supporting a “public option” on a stadium may actually damage T-Paw’s conservative credentials. And as a fan of Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal, that would suit me just fine.
Only in Eagan
Two of the youngest candidates for statewide office are both running out of Eagan; and both are Republicans. Doug Wardlow, 31, is running to reclaim the seat held by his father, Lynn Wardlow, which was lost to DFLer Mike Obermueller last time ’round.
David Carlson, 28, will be running against state senator Jim Carlson, a DFLer. The difference? Jim’s a liberal DFLer, whereas David’s a college student and US Marine who served three tours of duty in Iraq.
Here’s hoping Wardlow and Carlson will finish 2010 as the new blood of the GOP in Eagan, and can start laying glass tiles in their offices to commemorate their wins. Traditionally, Eagan is a more conservative-leaning suburb. Current GOP Governor Tim Pawlenty served in Eagan before ascending to the Governor’s office.
Pawlenty exposes RINO sympathies
For those not already “in the know,” RINO means “Republican In Name Only.” The term was coined to characterize folks like former Republican Senator “Jumpin’” Jim Jeffords and, most notably, Senator John McCain of Arizona.
While the media would like to pretend that the GOP is nothing but a bunch of Rush Limbaugh dittoheads and members of the religious right, the truth of the matter is that few of the Republicans seeking to replace George W. Bush in the White House in 2008 are even close to being conservative in the traditional, Reagan sense of the word.
Whether we are talking about Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, former NYC mayor Rudolph Guiliani or the aforementioned Sen. McCain, none of them are traditional conservatives. And Senator McCain, who has sponsored such anti-free speech, liberal legislation as the McCain-Feingold campaign reform bill, has actually been talked about as John Kerry’s Democratic running mate, prior to John Edwards being chosen. McCain is the very reason the term RINO was invented; he runs as a Republican but votes like a liberal Democrat.
Now, anyone with any political wisdom at all knows that McCain can’t win. He won’t attract enough of the GOP’s base to the polls, and Democrats are going to vote for real Dems, not McCain. The only real reason he’s running is because it’s “his turn,” and frankly, we all remember how Bob Dole fared against Bill Clinton on that logic. And, like Dole, we all know that if he wins the nomination, the closest McCain will get to the White House is starring in a Cialis commercial, drooling over Britney Spears like Dole did.
But now, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has finally exposed his true RINO roots for everyone to see. Rather than hop on board with at least a potential RINO winner like Rudy Guiliani or at least search for a conservative candidate to support, T-Paw has agreed to co-chair McCain’s presidential exploratory committee.
Prediction: Don’t expect Gov. T-Paw to hold the line on anything the new Dem-controlled MN state house and senate want to do.
