Community Corner

PAWLENTY WATCH: Former Governor Could Have a Future on the Political Trail

Eagan resident Tim Pawlenty quit the presidential race Sunday, but that may not mean he'll bow out of national politics.

Tim Pawlenty is out of the presidential race, but some say his political career isn’t over.

The Star Tribune reports that supporters say he’ll be back, perhaps in the 2012 U.S. Senate race, although Pawlenty denied that would happen. MinnPost says he’s also not interested in a vice president position.

The Star Tribune stated T-Paw “might have a better chance of victory in 2014, running against U.S. Sen. Al Franken, who eked out a close victory after a months-long recount,” and that he could also try a 2016 presidential run.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times also looked ahead: “For Pawlenty, while his dreams of the White House in 2012 have been dashed, he still could have a future on the campaign trail for other candidates and possibly a cabinet post, ambassadorship or other role if President Obama is defeated.”

The Eagan resident Sunday he would drop out of the presidential race after he came in a third in the Iowa straw poll. He declared his candidacy in late May, according to the New York Times, but he entered the national political scene four years ago as a finalist for the vice presidential nominee spot alongside presidential nominee John McCain.

The Times points out that Pawlenty stumbled in June in a debate with Michele Bachmann, who won the straw poll Saturday. Since then he’s had a rough time raising money for his campaign, the New York Times said.

The Atlantic says Pawlenty failed to excite people, that Bachmann sucked attention from his campaign, and that expectations were too high. “Pawlenty's failures probably had less to do with policy and more to do with persona. It's not that he isn't conservative enough,” the Atlantic’s Chris Good wrote. “Had Pawlenty won the nomination, the DNC would be crafting emails about his unmitigated extremity.”

Politico wrote that Bachmann called the former governor a “very good competitor” on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, although she dodged a question about whether she’ll seek his endorsement. Politico said she later issued a statement saying she spoke with Pawlenty to wish him well: “(He) brought an important voice and ideas to the campaign, and he served the people of Minnesota and our country well. Our party and our country are better as a result of his service and commitment”

Pawlenty has served on Eagan’s city council and planning commission, according to the New York Times.


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