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Pawlenty “Iowa’s Straw Man”
I had high hopes for Tim Pawlenty. Besides the fact that he was a conservative governor of a mid-western state that traditionally is about as liberal as my own deep blue state of Maryland, he actually put out policy ideas that made sense and articulated them well enough to get and keep my attention.
Unfortunately, as we have seen time and time again, presidential politics is not about making sense or telling people the truth, most often the winner of the competition is the person who can give more fluff than substance. Simply put, while Pawlenty definitely has the brain that the straw man searched for in the Wizard of Oz, he has not found the mechanism to start the hearts of the potential Republican primary voters.
I do not think Pawlenty’s campaign will make it through the end of the year. It’s a shame but all light and no heat makes for a failed presidential candidate.
For me, the interesting question is if the Tea Party segment of the Republican Party will choose a social conservative / fiscally responsible candidate that may have a chance of winning the electoral college or if they will help to choose a nominee who will lose in November and give us four more years of the current president whose leadership attempt has proven to be ill-equipped and unproductive.
6 Responses to “Pawlenty “Iowa’s Straw Man””
Republicans don’t care about “solving problems”. They care about creating them.
They have created virtually every major problem this country has. From Osama bin Laden to no healthcare to racial and gender income inequality, to massive debt and negative annual deficit the Republicans own it all. Unfortunately for the rest of us they are very good at casting the blame on others.
So I cannot imagine that Republicans will have any candidate that is not somehow crazier than a pet racoon, rather than actually discuss issues.
Right now the vibe off of his campaign is one of sleazy desperation. Not much to admire in my viewpoint.
Glad to see T-Paw’s true colors come out. This is the same crap he has been spewing for years in Minnesota. He spent 6 years burnishing his conservative credentials instead of governing Minnesota, kicking problem after problem down the road for future governors to deal with. (In all fairness the same can be said of Minnesota’s current governor and legislative leaders on the recent budget shutdown, but they “solved it” by following the precedence set by T-Paw.)
STinMN-
I’m curious, what did you think of socially liberal, fiscally conservative, Jesse Ventura?
Allen,
By the context of your question I’m sure you are interested in my political view of Jesse Ventura, but please understand that my political opinion of him is substantially different than some personal interactions I’ve had with him.
Ventura was initially effective as a Governor, getting some good policy wins and initiating some policy changes that are still being felt now, some good, like the transit improvements/light rail and strong support for public schools, and I agreed with his support for gay & abortion rights and medical marijuana. But part of his reform on property taxes and vehicle licensing planted some of the seeds of the financial issues Minnesota now faces.
I thought Ventura did a good job initially – he did some of the things he said he would and was willing to work with both parties to get things done. As his term progressed he was increasingly ineffective. Without a party to support him it was clear he wouldn’t be able to control the state agenda, and neither party was willing to work with him, so he seemed to just accept whatever was sent to him if he agreed with it or vetoed it if he disagreed but he clearly wasn’t driving the state, and seemed to publicly sulk about it. Not a pretty sight.
Now, Ventura as an individual is quite different. My kids played high school sports, and one of the teams they played against was the high school that Ventura was the strength/balance/speed coach at. Ventura would show up at virtually every sports event at the high school, he would cheer both teams when they made plays, he would chide both teams when played as dirty. After the games, if he could stay, he would coach players on either team, showing them how they could improve (he seems to have a very good understanding of body mechanics) their moves or balance. He seemed to love it. My son played on an adaptive (handicap) sports team, and Ventura pickup that he has a significant weakness on one side due to a childhood illness. He pulled my son over during half time and showed him a slight change on how he could make a change in direction (he was always getting beat on that side), and after a little practice my son was actually faster to his weak side. The next time they played Ventura not only remembered his name he remembered what he showed him, and complemented my son on how well he refined the technique.
As a sports coach Ventura is one of the best out there, as a Governor, not so much.
He just doesn’t have the look, and seems to be manipulated by the questioners (go attack Bachman now, go attack Romney now).