Not to be missed among a torrent of news this week: Tim Pawlenty had a pretty bad one in the realm of public affairs. Sez The Fix:Minnesota Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, after making a series of smart strategic moves over the past few months in advance of an expected run for president in 2012, has struggled on the national stage in the past week.
First, Pawlenty waded into a special election in Upstate New York on behalf of Conservative party nominee Doug Hoffman -- a move that came directly on the heels of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's decision to endorse Hoffman over state Assemblywoman Dede Scozzafava (R).
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Then, in an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" on Monday, Pawlenty seemed to make an unforced error by calling into question whether Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe (R) truly belonged within the Republican party.
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In retrospect, neither move was a smart one from a strategic point of view. Hoffman fell short in the special election and Pawlenty had to reach out to Snowe in the wake of his comments to make clear that his belief was that the party was a big tent rather than a small one.
Pawlenty detractors are sure to see these two incidents as evidence of a transparent attempt to tack to his ideological right in advance of a presidential primary process that is dominated by conservative activists.
Defenders of the governor insist that his motives had little to do with 2012. In the case of New York's 23rd, he felt compelled to get involved once he became aware of the selection process -- a group of 11 county chairs picked the nominee -- and Scozzafava's support for the Employee Free Choice Act while with Snowe it was less premeditated attempt to appease the right than simple mistake by a candidate somewhat new to the national stage. Pawlenty's defense of his endorsement in NY-23 doesn't hold a lot of water -- a special election is a strategic affair, and there was no strategic thinking in the GOP on how to hold a seat they'd held for more than a century. Claims to the contrary aside, there is zero room for Big-Tent politics in the GOP anymore.
On the other hand, Pawlenty was in a tough spot. Newt Gingrich had already seized the high ground among establishment GOP figures by supporting Scozzafava, and Sarah Palin had already gone rogue by supporting the non-GOP conservative candidate. Rock and a hard place, and all that.
Still, good to see Pawlenty being covered honestly from the Beltway. If this becomes the conventional wisdom on his nascent forays into national politics, he shouldn't stand much of a chance in the GOP nominating fiasco. |
