Posted on 11/09/2006 7:05:20 PM PST by daler
Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Thursday discounted talk about any future in national office after winning a second term in an election season unfavorable toward Republicans.
At a news conference, he said his "complete focus and total focus" will be on serving as governor, and he also restated his commitment to serving a full four years. Pawlenty was asked about his name appearing on pundits' lists of vice presidential possibilities.
"Which list? My wife said I was on a different list," he joked, adding later, "I am not worried about or focused on national elective office."
GOP state Chairman Ron Carey said Pawlenty might have trouble avoiding the speculation.
"He is one of the more talented Republicans nationwide," Carey said. "He is a rising star in the national Republican Party, that's just a fact. What that translates into and the timing, that's anybody's guess."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
Took a lot of flak from conservatives for imposing "fees" while keeping a no new taxes pledge.
Otherwise a solid conservative.
BTW, the "fees" complaint has some merit (increased state campground fees, boat/atv tags, etc), but a fee is only a tax if you choose to pay it...unlike a real tax.
Since he's made this pledge, he should just put 2008 out of his mind. He's young enough so that he could wait out another two-term presidency to make a run.
And it'd be nice if he were willing to try and take out Minnesota's new Democrat senator in 2012.
I wish he were planning on runnning. We dont have any other conservatives runningfor the GOP..we desperately need someone like Pawlenty to step up to the plate for 08.
He has to be considered VP material at a minimum.
Pawlenty is young, articulate, charmastic, CONSERVATIVE, and has won the highest office in a swing state TWICE. He is a Washington OUTSIDER with no connections to the Bush adminstration. He was one of the few Republican governors to buck the trend of massive GOP loses in 2006 and win-relection. And he was the ONLY Republican to do so in a non southern/western state.
THIS is the man we should be looking at for President.
ain't he populist on trade?
He's populist on a couple of issues, importing Rx drugs for example. Not sure what populist on trade would even mean.
What you'll see from Pawlenty is conservatism with some populist ideas thrown in. Nothing that would prevent me from supporting him.
If auto tabs and the endless list you refer to were in the mix I'd have a problem with it too...but that wasn't the case.
BTW, I used to smoke three packs a day and quit in 1982.
I guarantee you, if I can do it, anyone can.
So, IMO, the tobacco "fee" is just that...not a tax.
Linda Lingle of HI also won her re-election.
I thought he lost. What happened to Mark Kennedy?Why did he lose?
I think use fees are much better. Taxation without choice is thievery no matter how you spend the money.
Now that I look at it, the only CONSERVATIVE Governors to win election outside the south and west were 1) Pawlenty , 2) Caliceri (R.I.), and argueably 3) Palin (Alaska).
Of those three, the only one that has enough gravitas to run nationwide would be Pawlenty.
Pawlenty had more to do with the loss of republicans in Mn. then anyone else. He is a moderate republican. The only reason he did not raise taxes is because he signed a pledge to get the nomination. He did not sign it again. The only reason he won was Hatch blew it in the last week. He pissed off conservatives and they stayed home so conservatives suffered.
If Alaska and Hawaii aren't in the "West," I don't know where the heck they are. They sure aren't in the Northeast, South or Midwest.
Examples of American imperialism, those dirty capitalist dogs!
So you mean he wasn't giving them his full attention before?
They're not in the continential U.S., direction is realitive. Look at all the freepers here who said "I will NEVER vote a candidate from the EAST COAST", but supported George Allen for President because they said Virgina doesn't "count" as the east coast. (they also said "you can never trust ANY Republican from New England", but apparently lifelong Conn. resident Ann Coulter doesn't "count") And then there's the question of whether Maryland and Florida "count" as southern states.
The point is CONSERVATIVE Pawlenty won re-election as Governor in a state that went Gore/Kerry. The only other Governor to pull that off in 2006 was Don Caliceri of Rhode Island.
The last two electoral counts were extremely close, showing we can't afford to lose a single state we got in 2000 and 2004. I am tired of conservatives thinking we're going to waltz into the White House by running a candidate in an ultra-Republican state who's either never had serious competition or who barely eeked out a win in a "safe Bush" state. If they have trouble in a red state, how the hell are they going to carry the WHOLE country? It's Bob Dole and Barry Goldwater all over again. Do they WANT the Dems to win or what?
Hey, I'm with you re: not nominating candidates from ultra-GOP states (unless they have the ability to carry neighboring swing states). I think our optimal presidential ticket for 2008 is Pawlenty-Santorum; Pawlenty can carry MN and probably WI and IA, while Santorum will run strong in PA, OH, WV and could help in NJ. Another good ticket would be Pawlenty-Jeb Bush (if Jeb's brother wasn't the President, Jeb would be our best bet for the Presidency), since Jeb can win us FL's 27 EVs and will help in other states as well. Both Santorum and Jeb are Catholic, too, which could help us with another important swing constituency. (Pawlenty is from a Catholic family but converted to Protestantism, while Jeb is from a Protestant family but converted to Catholicism, so that should keep all our bases covered.)
THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER BUSH PRESIDENT.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.