New polling data came out today about lame duck Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's anemic 2012 presidential campaign. Pawlenty's presidential hopes have never really gotten off the ground. He has continually polled in the lower single digits.
Keep in mind that this is the same flawed MPR/Humphrey Institute poll Joe dissected yesterday. In other words, because of the rightwards skewing of this poll, this news could be even worse.
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? What? Okay, but I'm going to give you the good news for Timmeh first.
...But Pawlenty easily beats former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, 59 to 24 percent.
Yup. That's right. The current sitting Governor of Minnesota whomps the Quittah from Wasilla. Timmeh wins today's tallest midget award for that one.
The rest of the news is bad.
...when it comes to whether Minnesotans would vote for Pawlenty for president, a majority, or 53 percent, consider that unlikely. Even nearly one in four Republicans, or 23 percent, say they've be unlikely to vote for him.
Ouch. A majority of Minnesotans wouldn't vote for him and nearly 1 our of 4 Republicans wouldn't support him in a primary contest.
Possibly even more stinging for the governor is a question about who would make a better president among potential Republican competitors. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney outpolls Pawlenty on that question, 45 percent to 32 percent.
He can't even beat Mittens the Mormon in his own backyard.
Is this good news that he finally got out of the lower single digits in a poll or is this a sign of the his campaign leaving the runway and hitting the first tree?
Our beloved governor is an a rampage, ordering state departments to refuse any federal funds. After turning down well over $1 billion in federal funds, Timmy continues his reign of terror on the people of Minnesota. Turns out it's more than just scorn for Minnesotans, it's a payoff for his friends and benefactors, the insurance industry. TakeAction took action and interrupted the Friday Republican Hour on the Good Neighbor, our own WCCO.
link: http://theuptake.org/2010/08/2... One of the requirements of the new health care act is that insurance rate increases have to have a public review. Our thoughtful insurers prefer to keep rate increase discussion in the dark room in the back, So Timmy gets 2 jollies with one act - he spits in the eyes of Minnesotans as he gives away money and he keeps his insurance buddies out of public view.
It's a win win for Tim.
Under our very noses, MN Governor Tim Pawlenty bounced out to Chicago yesterday for a fundraiser for the GOP candidate for Illinois governor, Bill Brady.
A spokesman for Pawlenty says Pawlenty's visit to Chicago was a "quick trip" and he was back in the state within a few hours.
Regarding TBag's literary effort, there was a contest here for providing alternate titles; game and popular winners have been selected. Here's an article comparing the cover to those of others in the genre.
I had LOADS of submissions for my contest to determine an alternate title to lame duck MN Governor Tim Pawlenty's book that will be released the day the Governor's office door hits him where God split him. I like to thank everyone who participated.
I hope y'all had as much fun thinking them up as I had reading 'em.
So what are my criteria for determining the winner? What? You actually expected me to think that far ahead? Geesh ...
Okay ... here are the top 10:
Courage to Stand in an a Field in a Red Shirt under a Cloudy Sky and look Constipated, just like Sarah Palin did on the cover of her book, "Going Rogue
Political Rifts & Budget Shifts" My Presidential Ambition
The Courage to Pander, The TBag story
Courage to Stand Around while a State Crumbles
Kicking The Can Down The Road: The BridgeFail Story
A Man, A Plan, A Collapse... Minnesota
Holding Your Breath till you get your way -- Javier Morillo-Alicea wins an MPP tshirt
Courage to Stand on the Poor to Pander to the Rich -- @RickMons wins an MPP tshirt and the first issue of Bill Prendergast's Michele Bachmann comic
Courage to Stand. Bridges, Not So Much -- Robin Marty wins an MPP tshirt and the first two issues of Bill's comic.
You may have noted in a post I wrote about Tom Emmer, I mentioned that Minnesota could receive $263 million in aid to help pay for Medicaid (amount has since been revised to $236M). Tim Pawlenty, 2012 Republican presidential hopeful and lame duck Minnesota Governor, may have found yet another way to hurt out state (And you thought that with the legislative session over, there was little more damage he could do). Pawlenty could not request this grant money.
Democratic leaders in the Minnesota Legislature urged Gov. Tim Pawlenty Tuesday to apply for $236 million in federal health care money. In a letter to the governor, Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller and House Majority Leader Tony Sertich wrote that it would be "irresponsible" for the state to not seek the funds when many patients in Minnesota are struggling with the tough economy, adding, "You cannot let political ambition get in the way of doing what's right for Minnesota." They join the Minnesota Medical Association and the Mayo Clinic in calling for Pawlenty to secure the funds for Minnesota.
(Minnesota Independent)
Will Pawlenty join other Republican Governors who have railed against expanding the deficit and the government stimulus plan yet accept this money or play to the teabagger base? Unfortunately, the well-being of our state and it's citizens hangs in the balance. I'm not getting my hopes up.
Word on the street is that lame-duck Governor Tim Pawlenty has a book coming out the day Minnesota is finally rid of him. For Minnesota's sake, the day can't come soon enough. So, in honor of his re-writing of MN history and his own history, I'm announcing a contest:
Best Alternative Title to TPaws Book Contest
Winner will receive a MPP tshirt.
Actual title is: Courage To Stand, An American Story
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is still in Oregon this morning, but is headed to Las Vegas this evening for a fundraiser with Nevada Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Sandoval.
Minnesota is eligible for $263 million in federal health care funds, but the governor has to sign off on requesting them. He says he hasn't decided. I suppose he's in a pickle on this one, though there's little doubt that, personally, he'd like to refuse them, being the odious runt that he is. If he does decline, it could help him with teabaggers nationally, but the backlash in MN could hurt GOP electoral chances. Much of the federal funding is for care for the elderly - arguably the key demographic in midterm elections. Here's more on the issue.
A polling firm in Iowa re-ran presidential numbers, with some tweaking, and TBag's remained dismal.
Minnesotans will experience higher health insurance costs because our lame duck Governor, Tim Pawlenty, is running for President. Pawlenty could have signed an application for a $1 million grant to help reduce health insurance premiums, but he chose not to. Pawlenty opposes health insurance reform because he needs to appeal to the Republican teabagger base who will decide who becomes the 2012 Republican nominee.
The grant, which was part of the federal health care legislation, was available to states to crack down on excessive health insurance premium increases. In response to questioning by Senator John Marty (DFL - Roseville), John Gross of the Department of Commerce said that department staff completed the grant paperwork, but that Governor Pawlenty had refused to sign the letter of application.
Senator Marty said, "If the governor signed the letter and submitted the already completed paperwork, the state would have been virtually guaranteed to receive the grant funding. Every state that applied received the money. It was a grant available simply for the asking."
Forty five states -- including most of the 21 states that are suing the federal government over health care reform -- took the money, Marty pointed out. "The money was to be used to protect consumers and the state from health insurers overcharging. The only people who might object to the state getting this money are insurance companies that don't want adequate oversight."
"This isn't a matter of whether one agrees with the federal reform or not; this was a matter of getting our share of federal dollars," Marty said. "It's not as if Minnesota has a surplus of money. Rather than sign a letter, Governor Pawlenty gave up a million dollars. That is inexcusable."
(From email statement from John Marty)
Today, tomorrow, and Friday, MN Governor Tim Pawlenty is in Oregon. He's attending a National Forum on Education Policy, produced by the Education Commission of the States. He's the chair of that organization, which I can only assume selects its chair with an eye to 'nonpartisanship;' that is, with little regard to its chairperson's actual performance on education issues. He's also appearing at a fundraiser for Oregon Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Dudley, who's tall.
Presumably because of his wretched, increasingly hopeless campaign, and a fixation on attracting even a nibble of the teabagger base, Timmy seems to be beginning to, in the vernacular, 'totally lose it.' As shown by this nice trifecta of recent diaries from Rachel Nygaard, here; Joe Bodell, here; and The Big E, here.
Tim Pawlenty desperately wants to get his 2012 Republican presidential campaign off the ground. After nearly a year of criss-crossing the country, our lame-duck Governor just can't poll higher than the low single digits in poll after poll. To improve his chances, he's commenting on any national issue to anyone who'll listen.
So Pawlenty decided to comment on the Muslim Community Center to be built several blocks away from Ground Zero in NYC.
"To have him be the leader not just of this mosque but to hire him through the State Department and send him around the world on our behalf is ridiculous," T-Paw told Sean Hannity. "It is quite quite dangerous, quite concerning."
(City Pages Blotter)
There's only one small, little detail hypocritical with Pawlenty and the rest of the right wings fear-mongering:
When Bush adviser Karen Hughes was appointed Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy, the Bush Administration saw improving America's standing among Muslims abroad as a part of its national security strategy. And, as such, Hughes set up listening tours, attended meetings and worked with interfaith groups that -- shocking, by today's Republican standards -- included actual Muslims. One of those people was Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
(Talking Points Memo, h/t City Pages Blotter)
Let it be known that lame duck Governor Tim Pawlenty is on the record opposing the First Amendment to the United States Constitution:
Pawlenty, a presidential hopeful for 2012, appeared on Fox News' "Hannity" last night to decry Obama's support for the Islamic cultural center proposed by Rauf's Cordoba House at a site two blocks from Ground Zero. He also criticized the State Department for sending Rauf on a diplomatic mission to the Middle East, saying that was "disgusting" and "dangerous."
"To have him be the leader not just of this mosque but to hire him through the State Department and send him around the world on our behalf is ridiculous," Pawlenty told Sean Hannity. "It is quite quite dangerous, quite concerning."
But Pawlenty failed to mention a key fact (which TPM reported last week) that Rauf has been doing similar diplomatic work going back to George W. Bush's administration.
...
Last night, Pawlenty said Obama is "playing the role of law professor" by trying to argue about legal rights to build what critics are calling a "mosque." He said it should be about "basic decency, judgment, respect and appropriate recognition" of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
No, Mr. Pawlenty. It's not about judgment. It's about the law. Specifically, the Constitution of the United States of America, which you claim to respect and have sworn to uphold. That Constitution guarantees the right to free practice of religion, and on private property, in line with local building codes, a religious group can build whatever the hell they want to build.
You either support the Constitution and all the freedoms it guarantees or you don't. Mr. Pawlenty clearly falls into the latter group.
Lame duck Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty had more bad news today. Pawlenty has 1% of Iowa Republicans supporting him. Pawlenty has consistently been unable to rise above the low single digits in 2012 presidential polling.
Pawlenty scored 1 percent in a poll of Republican presidential hopefuls released Monday by the Iowa Republican, putting him in a distant tie for sixth out of 10 candidates in the poll.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won the 2008 Iowa caucuses, led at 22 percent, followed by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 18 percent, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 14 percent and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin at 11 percent.
As Pawlenty's presidential campaign trundles down the runway unable to achieve flight, I wonder how long the runway is and how long until his campaign loses its wings amongst the trees?
Poor Tim Pawlenty. Our lame duck Governor's 2012 Presidential campaign just can't get off the ground. At what point does his aspirations go off the end of the runway and into the trees?
The Clarus Group, a non-partisan research and polling firm, conducted a national survey that wasn't sponsored by anyone.
The modestly interesting finding: All the leading candidates have declined or stagnated over the company's three surveys, the first of them in August 2009. The leader, Mitt Romney, is down to 26 percent from 30 percent. Mike Huckabee's stable at 21 percent; he was at 22 percent before. Newt Gingrich is at 14 percent, from 15 percent. And Sarah Palin, the biggest mover, is at 12 percent, down from 18 percent.
The extra votes seem go to names that were added to the list: low single digits for Pawlenty, Alexander, Barbour, Daniels and Thune.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Thursday he wasn't concerned by a campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices over a decision that legalized gay marriage in the state.
...
Asked about a campaign organized by Sioux City business consultant Bob Vander Plaats -- who failed in his bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination -- to remove the justices, Pawlenty stressed that he supports limiting marriage to one man and one woman.
"I think the law should support that, and to the extent you have judges inserting their personal views to change that, I don't like it," Pawlenty said.
Vander Plaats and others have promised to organize an effective campaign to remove Chief Justice Marsha Ternus and Justices David Baker and Michael Streit when they come up for a retention vote in the November general election. The three joined a unanimous decision in 2009 that found an Iowa law banning same-sex marriage violated the state constitution.
Pawlenty is within his rights to believe that the law should support limiting civil rights to straight couples only. He's wrong and pandering to the bigoted wing of his party's base, but he can believe whatever he wants. But note the contradiction between reality and the dog-whistle politics he's playing here -- "inserting their personal views"? No sir, those judges found that banning same-sex marriage violated the law (the Iowa Constitution, written and enacted under the aegis of the Constitution of the United States) as it stands today. Not as anyone thinks it "should" be.
"Judicial activism" has always been a red herring for the modern conservative movement since it's been conservative justices who have most often overridden legislation and lower courts, but in a world where judges are using existing constitutional law to find the Right's hot-button issues to be small beans, leaders with arguments like T-Paw's are going to be in big, big trouble.
In a larger-scale sense, this is the crux of the recent kerfuffle over the 14th Amendment. The GOP leadership appears to think it's found a way to unite its anti-gay and anti-immigrant factions under a common argument: changing or repealing the constitutional amendment that guarantees due process and equal protection under the law for all. It's the 14th Amendment that informed Judge Walker's decision to expunge Proposition 8 in California, and it's the 14th Amendment that's going to guarantee that same-sex marriage bans are overturned across the nation once the inevitable lawsuits go forward.
In that light, the link to immigration and birthright citizenship seems like a marriage of convenience. Of COURSE the Steeles and Boehners and McConnells of the world would jump on it.
Meanwhile, T-Paw's quixotic run for the GOP presidential nomination continues in his regular aw-shucks-but-can't-make-a-coherent-argument-for-anyone-outside-my-base way. One must wonder if Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer agrees with Pawlenty's analysis, though...
New polling data came out today about lame duck Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's anemic 2012 presidential campaign. Pawlenty's presidential hopes have never really gotten off the ground. He has continually polled in the lower single digits.
Today, tomorrow, and Friday, MN Governor Tim Pawlenty is in Oregon. He's attending a National Forum on Education Policy, produced by the 
Lame duck Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty had 
