Posted on 04/13/2011 5:45:15 AM PDT by FreeManDC
Tim Pawlenty implied Tuesday that there are some less-than-serious presidential hopefuls eyeing the race, with a quip that seemed to lump Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Donald Trump together with wrestling icon Hulk Hogan.
"You're going to have, you know, Mitt Romney who will start out as the front-runner with the most name-ID and money..." Pawlenty told CNN’s Piers Morgan in handicapping the race. "And on the other end of the continuum, you'll have perhaps Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, or I don't know, maybe Hulk Hogan will get in the race too. Who knows? But I think in between those two things on the continuum, there's a role for a serious person who has tackled these kinds of issues. We live in very serious times and the country's facing a grave challenge. And if we're going to restore America's promise, we're going to have to get back to leadership that is steady, clear and strong."
Pawlenty was quick to emphasize that he means “no disrespect to those others,” and he pivoted to say that President Barack Obama has “never run anything before” and is “clearly in over his head.” But the message of holding himself up as a serious alternative to other potential candidates was a clear one.
"We just can't afford another whimsical election," he said.
There was a brief kerfuffle between Pawlenty and CNN before the interview aired, as the network promoted it with a quote of Pawlenty saying "I'm running for president." While he said that in passing, Pawlenty's camp insisted he was taken out of context. He quickly clarified that he's still in the exploratory phase.
What a weasel.
Personally I would for any of them including Hulk Hogan before Pawlenty.
Pawlenty.. oh yeah he’s gonna scare Obama
Hey Tim, “Serious” republicans got slaughtered in 2006 nd 2008 and the other side only runs Hulk Hogans.
Obama serious?
CC_guy: “What a weasel.”
LOL. My immediate response to the article was, “What a jerk!” Isn’t this the putz who allowed Al Franken to steal an election?
Stopped reading at this point..........
If Pawlenty doesn’t pay homage to Sarah fast, he’s going to be one lonely guy on the campaign trail.
A delusional weasel.
The good news is he doesn't have time to help Governor Walker with the recount in Wisconsin........
Yeah, well I would vote for Obama before I voted for Pawlenty!
This is ridiculous. Pawlenty is a pretty solid Republican executive that would make Obama have to defend purple and blue states. We would be wise to nominate him.
Tim wants to run back to country club... so he can serve poolside martinis to the Democrats. He won’t get my vote ever.
A Pawlenty presidency would just run us off the cliff a little slower than Obama. We need someone who will fight to shrink government, not a country-clubber who yuks it up with the Democrats over cocktails.
Tim Pawlenty implied Tuesday that there are some less-than-serious presidential hopefuls eyeing the race.
You mean like Tim Pawlenty?
The fact that this guy thinks he’s a contender is pathetic. I just wish the “conservative” media would wake up and stop taking his calls.
Tell me again why we need this petty little man?
don’t put words in other people’s mouths.. you know he wasn’t talking about Obama he was talking about the other Republicans mentioned
Any GOP candidate who goes on CNN to announce his bid gets zero support from me.
He’s already demonstrated a healthy fear of the left-wing media and is trying to suck-up to them. That means he has no fire in the belly for the tough fights.
Pawlenty has risen to a tie position with Romney in my personal estimation of Most Despicable Candidate for 2012.
Sorry, Huckabee, you’re a #3.
Can he win the south though?
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