Eagan's Tim Pawlenty on the "Short List" for Vice President

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Don't count Tim Pawlenty out of the presidential election just yet.

While Pawlenty own campaign for the nation's top political position foundered after a third-place finish in the straw poll in Iowa last summer, he is now on the "super-short list" as Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate, according to a GOP strategist quoted in a recent Star Tribune article.

Pawlenty, a 51-year-old Eagan resident, has rebounded and is now seen as a "battle-tested" candidate for the GOP campaign against President Barack Obama, the Star Tribune said. A month after the Iowa poll, Pawlenty backed Romney as a presidential candidate.

The Star Tribune isn't the only major media outlet speculating about Pawlenty as Romney's VP pick.

Pawlenty's "low-maintenance" personal style has endeared him with the Romney campaign, according to a Politico article published on Wednesday. Pawlenty's low-key evangelical Christian faith won't frighten secular voters, and his background as the son of a blue-collar worker may hold appeal for the Republican base, Politico wrote.

Romney and Pawlenty appeared together at a campaign stop earlier this year in Eagan, where Pawlenty gave a brief speech and introduced the presidential hopeful.

Correction: This article has been changed to correct an inaccuracy. An article cited in this story was originally published by the Star Tribune.