by Betsy Sundquist, Politics in Minnesota
April 23,2010
Carrie Lucking warns a visitor before she leads the way through the doors that the smell is not pleasant
In fact, the word she uses is “rancid.”
Paul Thissen’s “war room” – which doubles as a hockey locker room when the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center isn’t bursting at the seams with DFLers – is still filled with sweaty hockey uniforms and other gear, most of it concealed behind black curtains set up by convention center staff.
Although the smell isn’t as easily eradicated as the hockey players who normally frequent the room, the volunteers and staff members filling the space this weekend have learned pretty quickly to ignore the distraction and buckle down to the task at hand: getting four-term state Rep. Thissen endorsed by the DFL as its chosen candidate to run for governor. (Arguably, political staffers and volunteers are one of the only groups of people more accustomed to working under occasionally rancid conditions than journalists.)
Thissen is generally considered the candidate poised to benefit if the two front-runners – Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher – deadlock in tomorrow’s endorsement battle or if either of them falters during the process.
“Here’s the scary, scary boys’ bathroom,” says Lucking, the Thissen campaign’s communications director, ushering a visitor past the campaign’s data bank, where six members of Thissen’s technical team are performing real-time data updates during the convention. “But look – there’s a sauna!”
The tech team members receive messages from the convention floor on changes in delegate identifications and are able to instantly enter them into a database. Lucking says Thissen’s isn’t the only gubernatorial campaign with a backstage data bank, but she believes it’s the one making the best use of technology this weekend.
This is also where Thissen’s “persuasion team” has set up shop. The campaign receives requests and questions from delegates on the floor on small cards marked “Thissen Persuasion.” One side of the card is filled out with information about the delegate (or alternate delegate), including his or her congressional district (and where he or she can be located on the floor), the subject of the issue and a description; the issue is also designated “tier 1” or “tier 2.” If it’s a tier 1 issue, either Thissen or his wife Karen handles it; all tier 2 requests are assigned to whatever member of the persuasion team specializes in the applicable issue.
The other side of the card has spaces for the “persuader” to make notes and record the outcome of the contact.
According to Lucking, the campaign had completed 300 “persuasions” by midday Friday.
Many of Thissen’s volunteers are family members of staffers. Terrie Vitali, whose daughter, Gia Vitali, is managing Thissen’s campaign, was stationed outside the entrance to the war room Friday afternoon, making sure anyone who entered was authorized to do so (and was wearing one of the obligatory green bracelets that identified them as a member of the inner circle).
Thissen has more than 100 people working on his behalf behind the scenes, and another 100 on the convention floor, Lucking says. “It’s amazing how when people meet Paul, they want to help,” she says. “There’s a lot of momentum here.”
How will that momentum translate into delegate support? Tune in tomorrow.
Showing posts with label 2012 Presidential campaign. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2012 Presidential campaign. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Pawlenty preps 2012 campaign team
Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press
By: Jonathan Martin POLITICO
Updated: 10/01/2009
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been quietly assembling the blueprint of a presidential campaign and will announce Thursday the support of a group of high-level political strategists and donors, complemented by a handful of top new media consultants, POLITICO has learned.
Pawlenty, under the radar of D.C.'s political community, has locked up some of the key operatives who engineered then-President George W. Bush's reelection campaign — a significant feat for a little-known Midwestern politician.
The moves underscore, and will lend credence to, the emerging belief among many establishment Republicans that Pawlenty is becoming the sole viable alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican primary rival. The Minnesota governor has even gone so far as to contact some of Romney's former supporters.
Pawlenty, who previously has had little political infrastructure, is now being advised by a trio of GOP consultants with presidential experience: Terry Nelson, Sara Taylor and Phil Musser.
And in formally opening his political action committee, Freedom First, Thursday, Pawlenty will also announce two co-chairmen, William Strong, a Morgan Stanley vice chairman, and former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), both of whom are heavyweight GOP figures, along with a list of prominent Minnesota donors.
In addition to a high-dollar gala launch for the PAC in Minneapolis in November, Pawlenty is planning a Washington fundraiser for late October designed to acquaint the governor with the Beltway's most influential Republicans. Helping to coordinate the governor's GOP outreach in the nation's capital is Sam Geduldig, a well-connected lobbyist and former senior aide to Reps. John Boehner and Roy Blunt.
Serving as the PAC's counsel is Michael Toner, a veteran campaign lawyer in Washington. Alex Conant, a native Minnesotan and former Republican National Committee spokesman, will serve as communications director.
The governor has also inked political technology consultants Patrick Ruffini, Mindy Finn, Patrick Hynes and Liz Mair to develop what Pawlenty advisers hope will be the most sophisticated new-media presence of any Republican in the nation. Pawlenty launches a new website, www.timpawlenty.com, Thursday.
The second-term Minnesota governor, who is not seeking reelection next year, is focused on twin political goals, his advisers say: helping elect two Republican governors this fall from his perch as Republican Governors Association vice chairman and using his PAC to aid like-minded candidates running in next year's midterm elections.
But Pawlenty is doing far more than that to establish his presence in the minds of Republican voters.
He is also traveling the country at a fevered clip, appearing at scores of GOP and conservative events to speak to the party faithful, and becoming a frequent national TV presence, especially on cable television, where he's able to offer sharp critiques of President Barack Obama's latest moves.
And behind the scenes, he's engaged in a far more subtle campaign against another possible presidential rival.
Pawlenty has been phoning aides and advisers to Romney's 2008 campaign, ostensibly to introduce himself and solicit their advice.
One midlevel Romney aide who got a call suggested the Minnesotan was targeting younger operatives who may be open to another candidate in 2012 should the former Massachusetts governor stock the senior levels of his next potential run with the same cast as last time.
Pawlenty also recently reached out to another well-known Romney supporter from a key early-primary state, asking questions about the state's political dynamics.
"Not a lot of people outside of Minnesota know Gov. Pawlenty very well, and as he tries to help Republicans around the country, it makes sense for him to reach out to a lot of people," said Conant, when asked about the forward-leaning tactics. "As he puts together a team to run the PAC with a focus on 2010, he wants the best people available."
But such conversations have another effect, as Pawlenty and his team are well aware — they serve notice to the small community of political insiders that the governor is serious about a White House run.
The same can be said about the selection of Weber as co-chairman of his PAC. The former Minnesota congressman-turned-GOP lobbyist and strategist was an early backer of Romney's primary run, serving as campaign policy chairman and a close adviser.
"I'm a free agent," Weber said when asked about his 2012 loyalties, noting he had told senior Romney officials about his decision to help lead Pawlenty's PAC. He was emphatic that his efforts for Pawlenty are about 2010 — "doing something positive for the Republican Party" — and not the next presidential race.
Pawlenty is holding one-on-one meetings with Republicans nearly everywhere he goes and is going to some lengths to make sure his message is correctly calibrated. Before the recent Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, for example, he held a conference call with a team of advisers, including pollster Tony Fabrizio and longtime conservative strategist Greg Mueller, to help shape his speech and general approach at an event where he got rave reviews and finished a surprising third in the straw poll.
Further, Pawlenty has used public appearances and op-eds to criticize the health care plan Romney put in place in Massachusetts.
Taken together, Pawlenty's efforts reflect a Republican trying to carve out a niche for himself in the very early 2012 jockeying. Before anyone else enters the arena, he's seeking to win over Republicans who are reluctant, or downright unwilling, to embrace Romney and who think that other potential candidates — notably former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — are nonstarters in a general election.
"Who else is a credible alternative that's going to have a national campaign infrastructure?" asked one Republican operative, listing only Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as another potential entrant, before noting that the senator has done little to suggest he's interested in challenging Obama.
"There are basically two guys who are electable conservatives," said another plugged-in Republican, assessing a field that right now seems notably thin.
Yet Pawlenty lacks a few important strengths that some of his possible opponents enjoy. He doesn't have the ability to finance his own campaign as Romney does, nor does he maintain anything close to the former presidential hopeful's donor and grass-roots base. He lacks Huckabee's natural hold on social conservatives. And he's never going to enjoy a fervent following like the one Palin can point to.
It's also not entirely clear what Pawlenty's signature issues will be, since there is no overarching accomplishment in St. Paul that he could clearly run on.
Pawlenty's early maneuvering, however, could address one of the political class's early raps against him: that, while he may be a young and appealing conservative from a blue state, he lacks the organization or capacity to raise the kind of money needed to win the presidential nomination.
Nelson initially ran Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in 2007 and was the national political director on the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004. Taylor was also a senior official on the Bush campaign and did a stint as White House political director at the start of his second term. Musser ran the Republican Governors Association in 2006 and advised Romney at the outset of his 2008 White House run. Fabrizio and Mueller have also worked on GOP presidential campaigns.
Strong was a Ranger, or top Bush fundraising bundler, in 2004 and for McCain. He's joined by a group of Minnesotans, including former Target CEO Bob Ulrich, GOP strategist Jeff Larson and TCF Financial Corp. CEO Bill Cooper.
Pawlenty's team also includes a number of operatives who worked for different candidates in the last GOP primary. On the Web team alone are individuals from the campaigns of McCain, Romney and Rudy Giuliani.
A group of Pawlenty loyalists in Minnesota, Trisha Hamm, Annie Kelly and Don Stiles, will help run the business side of the St. Paul-based PAC.
By: Jonathan Martin POLITICO
Updated: 10/01/2009
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been quietly assembling the blueprint of a presidential campaign and will announce Thursday the support of a group of high-level political strategists and donors, complemented by a handful of top new media consultants, POLITICO has learned.
Pawlenty, under the radar of D.C.'s political community, has locked up some of the key operatives who engineered then-President George W. Bush's reelection campaign — a significant feat for a little-known Midwestern politician.
The moves underscore, and will lend credence to, the emerging belief among many establishment Republicans that Pawlenty is becoming the sole viable alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican primary rival. The Minnesota governor has even gone so far as to contact some of Romney's former supporters.
Pawlenty, who previously has had little political infrastructure, is now being advised by a trio of GOP consultants with presidential experience: Terry Nelson, Sara Taylor and Phil Musser.
And in formally opening his political action committee, Freedom First, Thursday, Pawlenty will also announce two co-chairmen, William Strong, a Morgan Stanley vice chairman, and former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), both of whom are heavyweight GOP figures, along with a list of prominent Minnesota donors.
In addition to a high-dollar gala launch for the PAC in Minneapolis in November, Pawlenty is planning a Washington fundraiser for late October designed to acquaint the governor with the Beltway's most influential Republicans. Helping to coordinate the governor's GOP outreach in the nation's capital is Sam Geduldig, a well-connected lobbyist and former senior aide to Reps. John Boehner and Roy Blunt.
Serving as the PAC's counsel is Michael Toner, a veteran campaign lawyer in Washington. Alex Conant, a native Minnesotan and former Republican National Committee spokesman, will serve as communications director.
The governor has also inked political technology consultants Patrick Ruffini, Mindy Finn, Patrick Hynes and Liz Mair to develop what Pawlenty advisers hope will be the most sophisticated new-media presence of any Republican in the nation. Pawlenty launches a new website, www.timpawlenty.com, Thursday.
The second-term Minnesota governor, who is not seeking reelection next year, is focused on twin political goals, his advisers say: helping elect two Republican governors this fall from his perch as Republican Governors Association vice chairman and using his PAC to aid like-minded candidates running in next year's midterm elections.
But Pawlenty is doing far more than that to establish his presence in the minds of Republican voters.
He is also traveling the country at a fevered clip, appearing at scores of GOP and conservative events to speak to the party faithful, and becoming a frequent national TV presence, especially on cable television, where he's able to offer sharp critiques of President Barack Obama's latest moves.
And behind the scenes, he's engaged in a far more subtle campaign against another possible presidential rival.
Pawlenty has been phoning aides and advisers to Romney's 2008 campaign, ostensibly to introduce himself and solicit their advice.
One midlevel Romney aide who got a call suggested the Minnesotan was targeting younger operatives who may be open to another candidate in 2012 should the former Massachusetts governor stock the senior levels of his next potential run with the same cast as last time.
Pawlenty also recently reached out to another well-known Romney supporter from a key early-primary state, asking questions about the state's political dynamics.
"Not a lot of people outside of Minnesota know Gov. Pawlenty very well, and as he tries to help Republicans around the country, it makes sense for him to reach out to a lot of people," said Conant, when asked about the forward-leaning tactics. "As he puts together a team to run the PAC with a focus on 2010, he wants the best people available."
But such conversations have another effect, as Pawlenty and his team are well aware — they serve notice to the small community of political insiders that the governor is serious about a White House run.
The same can be said about the selection of Weber as co-chairman of his PAC. The former Minnesota congressman-turned-GOP lobbyist and strategist was an early backer of Romney's primary run, serving as campaign policy chairman and a close adviser.
"I'm a free agent," Weber said when asked about his 2012 loyalties, noting he had told senior Romney officials about his decision to help lead Pawlenty's PAC. He was emphatic that his efforts for Pawlenty are about 2010 — "doing something positive for the Republican Party" — and not the next presidential race.
Pawlenty is holding one-on-one meetings with Republicans nearly everywhere he goes and is going to some lengths to make sure his message is correctly calibrated. Before the recent Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit, for example, he held a conference call with a team of advisers, including pollster Tony Fabrizio and longtime conservative strategist Greg Mueller, to help shape his speech and general approach at an event where he got rave reviews and finished a surprising third in the straw poll.
Further, Pawlenty has used public appearances and op-eds to criticize the health care plan Romney put in place in Massachusetts.
Taken together, Pawlenty's efforts reflect a Republican trying to carve out a niche for himself in the very early 2012 jockeying. Before anyone else enters the arena, he's seeking to win over Republicans who are reluctant, or downright unwilling, to embrace Romney and who think that other potential candidates — notably former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — are nonstarters in a general election.
"Who else is a credible alternative that's going to have a national campaign infrastructure?" asked one Republican operative, listing only Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as another potential entrant, before noting that the senator has done little to suggest he's interested in challenging Obama.
"There are basically two guys who are electable conservatives," said another plugged-in Republican, assessing a field that right now seems notably thin.
Yet Pawlenty lacks a few important strengths that some of his possible opponents enjoy. He doesn't have the ability to finance his own campaign as Romney does, nor does he maintain anything close to the former presidential hopeful's donor and grass-roots base. He lacks Huckabee's natural hold on social conservatives. And he's never going to enjoy a fervent following like the one Palin can point to.
It's also not entirely clear what Pawlenty's signature issues will be, since there is no overarching accomplishment in St. Paul that he could clearly run on.
Pawlenty's early maneuvering, however, could address one of the political class's early raps against him: that, while he may be a young and appealing conservative from a blue state, he lacks the organization or capacity to raise the kind of money needed to win the presidential nomination.
Nelson initially ran Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign in 2007 and was the national political director on the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004. Taylor was also a senior official on the Bush campaign and did a stint as White House political director at the start of his second term. Musser ran the Republican Governors Association in 2006 and advised Romney at the outset of his 2008 White House run. Fabrizio and Mueller have also worked on GOP presidential campaigns.
Strong was a Ranger, or top Bush fundraising bundler, in 2004 and for McCain. He's joined by a group of Minnesotans, including former Target CEO Bob Ulrich, GOP strategist Jeff Larson and TCF Financial Corp. CEO Bill Cooper.
Pawlenty's team also includes a number of operatives who worked for different candidates in the last GOP primary. On the Web team alone are individuals from the campaigns of McCain, Romney and Rudy Giuliani.
A group of Pawlenty loyalists in Minnesota, Trisha Hamm, Annie Kelly and Don Stiles, will help run the business side of the St. Paul-based PAC.
Pawlenty takes big steps today toward a campaign for president
In another sign he is mulling a presidential candidacy, Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s new PAC is set up and it's already attracting some heavy-hitting advisers and contributors.
By BOB VON STERNBERG and RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: October 1, 2009
The Pawlenty presidential buzz is kicking into higher gear.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty filed paperwork today with federal regulators to form the Freedom First PAC, a national fundraising committee he can use to aid GOP candidates in upcoming elections.
Simultaneously, he was featured -- with a photo -- at the top of the Drudge Report this morning with a headline asking, "CAN THIS MAN CONQUER OBAMA?"
The headline linked to a Politico.com story that reported Pawlenty "has been quietly assembling the blueprint of a presidential campaign" even as he has stayed "under the radar of D.C.'s political community"
In recent years, presidential candidates have started fundraising committees, such as Pawlenty has now done, to raise their profiles ahead of a White House run.
Since announcing this summer that he wouldn't seek a third term as governor, Pawlenty has incessantly stumped across the country at Republican events, insisting that he hasn't decided whether he'll mount a presidential run in 2012.
Pawlenty introduced himself in a video message on a new website -- www.timpawlenty.com -- that went live today. He also embraced his informal nickname in a brief biography, referring to himself as "TPaw."
"This is an important time in America," he says in the video. "The stakes are high and standing on the sidelines isn't an option. I'm making a commitment to you to fight for our principles. I'm asking for your support and I want to hear your voice."
The political action committee will allow Pawlenty to collect large donations, seed other Republicans' campaigns and fund his own travel and staff as he explores a possible 2012 run for president.
Along with creating his PAC, Pawlenty announced that he has enlisted a team of political consultants considered heavyweights in presidential politics.
The committee's co-chairs and announced staff show that Pawlenty isn't taking possibility lightly. It will be chaired by William H. Strong, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, and. Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman turned Republican lobbying powerhouse. The PAC's advisers include Sara Taylor, a former White House political director, Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association and Terry Nelson, a 2003 Bush-Cheney political director.
Michael Toner, a former Federal Election Commission chairman, will act as the organization's legal counsel.
The Democratic National Committee lambasted Pawlenty's moves as "back to the future."
"Recycling advisers from George W. Bush and relying on Washington insiders and lobbyists has to be utterly disappointing for those who thought Tim Pawlenty would bring a fresh approach to the Republican Party," the Democrats said in a news release.
According to the Politico story, "the moves underscore, and will lend credence to, the emerging belief among many establishment Republicans that Pawlenty is becoming the sole viable alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican primary rival. The Minnesota governor has even gone so far as to contact some of Romney's former supporters."
Appearing on Fox News Wednesday night, Pawlenty continued to deflect speculation about his ambitions.
"I really do not know what I am going to do," he said in an interview. "This is to benefit other candidates. What I am going to do down the road, I do not know."
A recent Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found Minnesotans aren't enamored of his potential run for presidential. Only thirty percent said he should run while 55 percent said he should not. Still, half of those in the survey said there was some or good chance they've vote for him should he end up winning the 2012 Republican nomination.
By BOB VON STERNBERG and RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER, Star Tribune staff writers
Last update: October 1, 2009
The Pawlenty presidential buzz is kicking into higher gear.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty filed paperwork today with federal regulators to form the Freedom First PAC, a national fundraising committee he can use to aid GOP candidates in upcoming elections.
Simultaneously, he was featured -- with a photo -- at the top of the Drudge Report this morning with a headline asking, "CAN THIS MAN CONQUER OBAMA?"
The headline linked to a Politico.com story that reported Pawlenty "has been quietly assembling the blueprint of a presidential campaign" even as he has stayed "under the radar of D.C.'s political community"
In recent years, presidential candidates have started fundraising committees, such as Pawlenty has now done, to raise their profiles ahead of a White House run.
Since announcing this summer that he wouldn't seek a third term as governor, Pawlenty has incessantly stumped across the country at Republican events, insisting that he hasn't decided whether he'll mount a presidential run in 2012.
Pawlenty introduced himself in a video message on a new website -- www.timpawlenty.com -- that went live today. He also embraced his informal nickname in a brief biography, referring to himself as "TPaw."
"This is an important time in America," he says in the video. "The stakes are high and standing on the sidelines isn't an option. I'm making a commitment to you to fight for our principles. I'm asking for your support and I want to hear your voice."
The political action committee will allow Pawlenty to collect large donations, seed other Republicans' campaigns and fund his own travel and staff as he explores a possible 2012 run for president.
Along with creating his PAC, Pawlenty announced that he has enlisted a team of political consultants considered heavyweights in presidential politics.
The committee's co-chairs and announced staff show that Pawlenty isn't taking possibility lightly. It will be chaired by William H. Strong, vice chairman of Morgan Stanley, and. Vin Weber, a former Minnesota congressman turned Republican lobbying powerhouse. The PAC's advisers include Sara Taylor, a former White House political director, Phil Musser, a former executive director of the Republican Governors Association and Terry Nelson, a 2003 Bush-Cheney political director.
Michael Toner, a former Federal Election Commission chairman, will act as the organization's legal counsel.
The Democratic National Committee lambasted Pawlenty's moves as "back to the future."
"Recycling advisers from George W. Bush and relying on Washington insiders and lobbyists has to be utterly disappointing for those who thought Tim Pawlenty would bring a fresh approach to the Republican Party," the Democrats said in a news release.
According to the Politico story, "the moves underscore, and will lend credence to, the emerging belief among many establishment Republicans that Pawlenty is becoming the sole viable alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican primary rival. The Minnesota governor has even gone so far as to contact some of Romney's former supporters."
Appearing on Fox News Wednesday night, Pawlenty continued to deflect speculation about his ambitions.
"I really do not know what I am going to do," he said in an interview. "This is to benefit other candidates. What I am going to do down the road, I do not know."
A recent Star Tribune Minnesota Poll found Minnesotans aren't enamored of his potential run for presidential. Only thirty percent said he should run while 55 percent said he should not. Still, half of those in the survey said there was some or good chance they've vote for him should he end up winning the 2012 Republican nomination.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Pawlenty: Fresh face the GOP is seeking?
Tim Pawlenty begins a tough quest to fit between the party's center and the right, pundits say.
By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune
Last update: June 7, 2009
WASHINGTON - Facing a national gathering of College Republicans on Friday night, in his first major speech since announcing he won't seek another term as governor, Tim Pawlenty made clear that in them, he can see the party's future.
He can only hope that they see the same in him.
Widely perceived to be in the hunt for the White House in 2012, Pawlenty got plenty of buzz leading up to his keynote address at the College Republican National Convention, where he said, "We need your help, we need your leadership."
The stop, to be followed by an appearance at the Arkansas Republican Party's annual governor's dinner later this month, is seen by many observers as the start of Pawlenty's quest for a national base of contacts and money.
Starting behind a field of much better-known contenders, Pawlenty would need plenty of both.
For one, despite his runner-up status as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate last year, Pawlenty is hardly a household name outside Minnesota. For another, he's a long way from having any sort of lock on the party's influential conservative base.
"Minnesotans think of Pawlenty as a very conservative Republican," said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato, a leading national political analyst. "What always surprises them is the revelation that Pawlenty is a moderate in the national context of the Republican Party, and that's a problem."
Running as a Minnesota Republican can have its advantages, positioning Pawlenty as a two-term GOP governor of a Democratic-leaning state. "That ought to at least be considered by a party that's drowning," Sabato said.
There's no doubt that Pawlenty, a 48-year-old ex-College Republican, scored a coveted spot at a convention of young Republicans hungry for leadership and looking to get past last year's devastating electoral setbacks. To a standing ovation, he had them chanting "T-Paw" and "You Betcha," and joking about vacationing in Iowa, an early caucus state.
He also spoke at a luncheon of the Washington chapter of the Republican National Lawyers Association and attended a reception with former McCain campaign aides and other GOP strategists, people who could be helpful on a future presidential campaign.
"The party's looking for that next generation of leadership, and we certainly see Pawlenty as somebody who can lead the party forward," said Charlie Smith, chairman of the College Republican National Committee. "He represents a new face in the party."
'Fusion candidate'
But the problem, as Sabato and others see it, is that despite Pawlenty's evangelical faith, the party's conservative wing may already be spoken for. Its heroes, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, already have devoted national followings.
Going forward, that leaves Pawlenty to graze the same fields as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, all conservative Republicans with centrist images and sophisticated political operations.
Pawlenty, while deflecting speculation about his presidential ambitions, has said he wants to be a part of the rigorous intra-party debate between conservative stalwarts and "big tent" Republicans. GOP strategists who know him well term him a solid conservative on social, fiscal and foreign policy. His budget battle with the DFL-led Legislature has only burnished his anti-tax credentials. But allies also see him as someone who can transcend labels with his patented "Sam's Club Republican" appeal, moving the party beyond the legacy of the Bush years and the 2008 electoral defeats.
"To the extent he can appeal to a broad swath of the electorate, it's an advantage," said Alex Conant, a former Republican National Committee spokesman who has been involved in Minnesota politics. Pawlenty, for his part, in an interview, labeled himself "a mainstream conservative in the Reagan tradition."
That would likely make Pawlenty a "fusion candidate" trying to fill the space between the center and right.
But however likeable and broad-based Pawlenty's appeal, the danger is in falling into the chasm between the Republican Party's moderates and conservatives. Raising money means cultivating motivated interest groups, party factions, and financial backers.
"What's the faction he can command? It's not obvious to me," said Steven Schier, a Carleton College professor of American politics. "Everybody's second choice means not enough money to run."
'Ground zero'
In the search for a national fundraising base, Pawlenty would be starting far behind his better-known rivals. New to the chase for cash and organization, he might as well be the charter member of his own Sam's Club Republican chapter.
"It's a big job, and he's starting from ground zero," said Washington political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. "Mitt Romney does not start from ground zero. Mike Huckabee doesn't start from ground zero. Even Sarah Palin doesn't start from ground zero."
Friday, while touting his blue-collar South St. Paul roots, he said that he has no plans to start his own political organization.
But one asset Pawlenty could bring to a future campaign is a fresh face on the national political scene. Even if he was an early supporter of McCain, he was denied a spot on the ticket and remains largely untainted by defeat in 2008, unlike much of the rest of the GOP field.
The fresh face strategy was certainly in play in a hotel ballroom full of college Republicans on Friday. "He's trying to appeal to the young, and that's what he's got to do," Sabato said. He also needs to fashion an appeal to minorities and educated suburbanites, significant demographic groups that abandoned the GOP in droves last year.
But first he needs to get known outside of the capital circle of political junkies and party activists. "He needs to spend time in Texas, California and Florida, making contacts," Rothenberg said. "He's got to go to places where there are a lot of Republicans, and a lot of Republican money."
Pawlenty will also likely need to spend a lot of time in Iowa, the first caucus state and neighbor the national media will expect him to win -- a high-pressure test for any presidential aspirant.
All of which would require time away from the office in the last 19 months of his term as governor, exposing him to Democratic charges that he is putting his national political ambitions above the interests of Minnesota. It's already become a DFL talking point in the budget showdown over his plan to balance the state budget through a process of "unallotment."
But Republicans say that if he's really running for president, he would be too smart to leave his flanks exposed at home, where he has long cultivated an image as a fiscal conservative. Said Conant: "To the extent he can cement that over the next 19 months and finish his term strong, that will be a testament to his abilities as a leader."
Kevin Diaz • 202-408-2753
By KEVIN DIAZ, Star Tribune
Last update: June 7, 2009
WASHINGTON - Facing a national gathering of College Republicans on Friday night, in his first major speech since announcing he won't seek another term as governor, Tim Pawlenty made clear that in them, he can see the party's future.
He can only hope that they see the same in him.
Widely perceived to be in the hunt for the White House in 2012, Pawlenty got plenty of buzz leading up to his keynote address at the College Republican National Convention, where he said, "We need your help, we need your leadership."
The stop, to be followed by an appearance at the Arkansas Republican Party's annual governor's dinner later this month, is seen by many observers as the start of Pawlenty's quest for a national base of contacts and money.
Starting behind a field of much better-known contenders, Pawlenty would need plenty of both.
For one, despite his runner-up status as John McCain's vice-presidential running mate last year, Pawlenty is hardly a household name outside Minnesota. For another, he's a long way from having any sort of lock on the party's influential conservative base.
"Minnesotans think of Pawlenty as a very conservative Republican," said University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato, a leading national political analyst. "What always surprises them is the revelation that Pawlenty is a moderate in the national context of the Republican Party, and that's a problem."
Running as a Minnesota Republican can have its advantages, positioning Pawlenty as a two-term GOP governor of a Democratic-leaning state. "That ought to at least be considered by a party that's drowning," Sabato said.
There's no doubt that Pawlenty, a 48-year-old ex-College Republican, scored a coveted spot at a convention of young Republicans hungry for leadership and looking to get past last year's devastating electoral setbacks. To a standing ovation, he had them chanting "T-Paw" and "You Betcha," and joking about vacationing in Iowa, an early caucus state.
He also spoke at a luncheon of the Washington chapter of the Republican National Lawyers Association and attended a reception with former McCain campaign aides and other GOP strategists, people who could be helpful on a future presidential campaign.
"The party's looking for that next generation of leadership, and we certainly see Pawlenty as somebody who can lead the party forward," said Charlie Smith, chairman of the College Republican National Committee. "He represents a new face in the party."
'Fusion candidate'
But the problem, as Sabato and others see it, is that despite Pawlenty's evangelical faith, the party's conservative wing may already be spoken for. Its heroes, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, already have devoted national followings.
Going forward, that leaves Pawlenty to graze the same fields as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, all conservative Republicans with centrist images and sophisticated political operations.
Pawlenty, while deflecting speculation about his presidential ambitions, has said he wants to be a part of the rigorous intra-party debate between conservative stalwarts and "big tent" Republicans. GOP strategists who know him well term him a solid conservative on social, fiscal and foreign policy. His budget battle with the DFL-led Legislature has only burnished his anti-tax credentials. But allies also see him as someone who can transcend labels with his patented "Sam's Club Republican" appeal, moving the party beyond the legacy of the Bush years and the 2008 electoral defeats.
"To the extent he can appeal to a broad swath of the electorate, it's an advantage," said Alex Conant, a former Republican National Committee spokesman who has been involved in Minnesota politics. Pawlenty, for his part, in an interview, labeled himself "a mainstream conservative in the Reagan tradition."
That would likely make Pawlenty a "fusion candidate" trying to fill the space between the center and right.
But however likeable and broad-based Pawlenty's appeal, the danger is in falling into the chasm between the Republican Party's moderates and conservatives. Raising money means cultivating motivated interest groups, party factions, and financial backers.
"What's the faction he can command? It's not obvious to me," said Steven Schier, a Carleton College professor of American politics. "Everybody's second choice means not enough money to run."
'Ground zero'
In the search for a national fundraising base, Pawlenty would be starting far behind his better-known rivals. New to the chase for cash and organization, he might as well be the charter member of his own Sam's Club Republican chapter.
"It's a big job, and he's starting from ground zero," said Washington political analyst Stuart Rothenberg. "Mitt Romney does not start from ground zero. Mike Huckabee doesn't start from ground zero. Even Sarah Palin doesn't start from ground zero."
Friday, while touting his blue-collar South St. Paul roots, he said that he has no plans to start his own political organization.
But one asset Pawlenty could bring to a future campaign is a fresh face on the national political scene. Even if he was an early supporter of McCain, he was denied a spot on the ticket and remains largely untainted by defeat in 2008, unlike much of the rest of the GOP field.
The fresh face strategy was certainly in play in a hotel ballroom full of college Republicans on Friday. "He's trying to appeal to the young, and that's what he's got to do," Sabato said. He also needs to fashion an appeal to minorities and educated suburbanites, significant demographic groups that abandoned the GOP in droves last year.
But first he needs to get known outside of the capital circle of political junkies and party activists. "He needs to spend time in Texas, California and Florida, making contacts," Rothenberg said. "He's got to go to places where there are a lot of Republicans, and a lot of Republican money."
Pawlenty will also likely need to spend a lot of time in Iowa, the first caucus state and neighbor the national media will expect him to win -- a high-pressure test for any presidential aspirant.
All of which would require time away from the office in the last 19 months of his term as governor, exposing him to Democratic charges that he is putting his national political ambitions above the interests of Minnesota. It's already become a DFL talking point in the budget showdown over his plan to balance the state budget through a process of "unallotment."
But Republicans say that if he's really running for president, he would be too smart to leave his flanks exposed at home, where he has long cultivated an image as a fiscal conservative. Said Conant: "To the extent he can cement that over the next 19 months and finish his term strong, that will be a testament to his abilities as a leader."
Kevin Diaz • 202-408-2753
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)