Minnesota's lame-duck Governor and 2012 Presidential candidate wannabe Tim Pawlenty had a big weekend. He spent the weekend making appearances to further his presidential ambitions. First up was a fundraiser in Little Rock, Arkansas. Next was a CNN interview.
We can pull two important points from the interview. First he claims he'll sign the election certificate if the MN Supreme Court issues it. Second, he criticized the climate change bill that just passed the House. This criticism is a bit of a flip-flop.
I'll begin with Arkansas. If only he would work this hard to accomplish anything for MN ... it all began during the flight down:
But his jet was held at Memphis with mechanical problems, canceling the next leg to Little Rock. That's where "Minnesota Nice" met "Arkansas Traveler." Rick Crawford, who is running for Congress against long-time Democrat Rep. Marion Berry, drove to Memphis to pick up the governor. But a traffic jam caused another delay. By the time Pawlenty got to Little Rock, there wasn't time for him to hit his hotel before attending the dinner. "He never once complained or was critical," said an Arkansas GOP insider who worked for Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign. "The only thing I could think of was he got a crash course on going with the flow on the campaign trail if he decides to run. He had to go from Plan A to Plan B in the span of a couple of hours." Pawlenty flew without any staff. "He was low maintenance and easygoing. He wasn't too worked up over things he has no control over," said the insider.
(Washington Whispers)
Seriously, this sounds like "Planes, Trains and Automobiles. It's just too bad that he isn't this dedicated when it comes to going the extra mile for his state.
Climate change was a topic for Gubnah Timmeh on a CNN interview (I assume this is the same interview in which he commented about the election certificate). He flip-flopped on his support of climate change.
This flipper floppery is a behavior pattern throughout his political career.
He'll say different things to different groups. In rural areas he talks about helping counties and non-metro cities, about helping farmers. In front of conservatives in the metro area he'll talk about starving the beast and shrinking government. In January he'll talk about bipartisanship and doing what's best for Minnesota. In April and May he protects his no-new-taxes pledge and refuses to negotiate.
So now that the national conservatives are calling the new climate bill...
... how can Pawlenty convince the Republican base he's their man, if he doesn't flip flop? Seen in this light, it's obvious why he can no longer support the climate change solutions he did in the past.
Remember, everything he does is about his presidential ambitions.
Pawlenty also re-affirmed he'd sign Al Franken's election certificate if the MN Supremes tell him.
However, considering Pawlenty's predilection for saying one thing then doing another, I'll believe it when the ink has dried on Senator Franken's election certificate.
