McCain VP Announcement Tomorrow? Plus Bonus Pawlenty Whiff...

[babylonsister]

http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_stump/archive/2008/07/26/mccain-vp-announcement-tomorrow-plus-bonus-pawlenty-whiff.aspx

McCain VP Announcement Tomorrow? Plus Bonus Pawlenty Whiff...


Take this for what it's worth--and it may not be much--but a source well-connected in Minnesota politics (and in a position to know) is pretty sure Tim Pawlenty has pulled out of one or two events scheduled there for tomorrow. Assuming that's right, I guess it could mean any number of things: 1.) There was some random, non-veepstakes-related conflict that forced the change of schedule. 2.) McCain or his vetters intend to meet with Pawlenty tomorrow, possibly somewhere outside Minnesota. 3.) McCain intends to announce his veep pick tomorrow and has asked several short-listers to clear their schedules. 4.) McCain intends to announce Pawlenty as his running mate tomorrow.

I e-mailed a Pawlenty spokesperson about this last night and haven't received a response.

I'd put 4.) as least likely, but it would obviously be consistent with the schedule change. Also, Marc Ambinder passed along some speculation Friday night that McCain would be announcing his veep pick tomorrow, so keep that in mind.

--Noam Scheiber

[dkf]

1. Pawlenty is a great pick for McCain.

I haven't a clue who this guy is. A great anonymous bland pick I'm sure. Even Bob Dole picked Jack Kemp who had a little pizzazz.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. He is the governor of my state, Minnesota.

And he sucks out loud. We call him "Timmy the Tool" around here. He's bland, personable, fairly good-looking, and also a totally doctrinaire GOPer on economic issues. He's been sniffing McCain's jock for at least a year to get the VP pick. He's an antitax freak who doesn't believe in funding much of anything, especially boring shit like roads and, um, bridges.

BTW, we nearly had another bridge collapse yesterday. Big chunks of a freeway overpass fell onto a couple of cars. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but The Tool doesn't need more disintegrating infrastructure on his resume these days.

[VolcanoJen]

14. Heard a Minnesotan on talk radio the other day...

... saying that Pawlenty just barely got re-elected last time out. Is this true? Because Our Awesome Liberal Media keeps telling me that Mullet Man is extraordinarily popular and will deliver Minnesota to McCain on a silver platter.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

16. It's true.

It was a total squeaker. He beat the challenger, Mike Hatch, by only 2 percentage points, and it's likely that he won only because Hatch ran a lousy campaign and made a lot of mistakes.

Pawlenty isn't all that popular here. Now that another bridge has started to crumble, he'll be under the spotlight again, and not in a good way.

[Drunken Irishman]

25. Non-bias answer please, is he popular there?

I mean, I know you don't like him, but I don't like Utah's governor and he's about to win re-election with almost 80% of the vote. So do people in Minnesota like him?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

26. All I can tell you is

he just barely got re-elected and he has been criticized quite harshly for his neglect of the state's infrastructure. Some people might like him, but I'm not aware of any strong enthusiasm. He has a pleasant demeanor and he is fond of hockey.

[Drunken Irishman]

28. So no approval ratings out?

[Drunken Irishman]

29. The last I could find was from February and he was at 55%.

http://wcco.com/local/tim.pawlenty.approval.2.646136.html

Pretty strong, but not strong enough to change Minnesota red, I think.

[saltpoint]

2. It could be. The cancelled calendar events give it some heft, IMO.

And Pawlenty has been batted back and forth for some while now as a possible choice.

Plus neither Pawlenty nor McCain have a damn thing else to do tomorrow!

[saltpoint]

3. If it's Pawlenty, it sure is gonna make Mittens mad.

Also if this Pawlenty announcement comes tomorrow, it could be a notably chilly evening at Charlie Crist's house.

[hisownpetard]

5. Yeah, Mittens'll be paw-lenty mad, all right! If I were his dog, I'd head for the hills before

Mittens gets the word and starts looking for the car keys and some rope.:mad:

[saltpoint]

7. Excellent insight on the Romney family pooch. In fact, I expect PETA

to call for emergency legislation to provide funding for safe-houses for Republican dogs.

The sooner the better, because this Pawlenty chatter feels authentic to me.


:hi:

[hisownpetard]

8. Good idea (as usual, OC)!

:hi:

[VolcanoJen]

15. "Dogs Against Romney" is still one of my favorite primary season blogs.

http://dogsagainstromney.blogspot.com/

Poor Seamus. :-(

I still fully expect that Mittens is going to be the VP Pick.

[saltpoint]

17. Howdy, VolcanoJen. I'm wondering who else it might be, except now

for Pawlenty, who is said to have cancelled his appointments tomorrow for no evident reason.

Naturally the speculation is well-placed, speculation tho it be.


:hi:

[VolcanoJen]

18. Well...

;-)

[saltpoint]

19. Gephardt? Naw, McCain won't pick Gephardt!

Just joking.

If it turns out to be Romney, I guess he had the inside track all along in a way, although here in the last few hours I'm giving Pawlenty's chances another look.

McCain should go for broke and choose Franklin Graham.

[VolcanoJen]

20. The way McCain's been talking lately...

.. I truly would not be surprised to see him choose the ultimate "fuck you" pick... Jeb Bush.

[saltpoint]

21. Yep. I worry about ol' Jeb, slinking around the swamps down in

Miami, or wherever he's hanging out.

It's been mighty quiet from him these days... I don't like it!

[MaryEllen71]

22. fundies and pro lifers would not vote

Jebbie did not do enough, according to them, to save terri schiavo.

[ErinBerin84]

4. Pawlenty makes me think of broken bridges, whether it's fair or not.

I remember Chuck Todd once talking about Pawlenty and saying "You see...he's not like other politicians...he plays video game hockey!" K, Chucky T.... :puke:

[hisownpetard]

6. Makes me think of a cross between placenta and polenta - neither of which is good.

[rurallib]

9. "St. Paul bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down

St. Paul bridge is falling down. Blame Tim Pawlenty."
(to the tune of London Bridge is falling down)
I see a GREAT theme song here for McMavericky + Pawlenty!

[ErinBerin84]

10. that song actually does pop into my head whenever I see Pawlenty, lol.

Almost wrote the same thing in my post...great minds think alike! And it kind of meshes well with McCain's "no earmarks, our bridges don't need em'" attitude.

[deadmessengers]

11. expect the New York Post to get their headline wrong tomorrow.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5377014

[saltpoint]

12. LOL! Yes. This is one of their specialties!

[Motown_Johnny]

23. 5) he ate a jalapeno with salmonella and isn't feeling well

[dontforgetpoland]

24. I'll be shocked if he chooses tomorrow; more shocked if it's Pawlenty.

If McCain choose Pawlenty, probably 95% of Amrerican first reaction will be "Who?"

I suspect Romney as his nominee. Even though they do not get along, McCain has shown that he will do or say anything to win.

[tokenlib]

27. McCain will be seduced into thinking he can take MI with Romney....

..If it were not for Romney's "appeal" to blue collar workers--a fantasy in my opinion--I think he'd go to Pawlenty to appeal to the suspicious base of the GOP.

At this point I think the economy trumps culture...But what the hell do I know???