Pawlenty saving himself for right time to say whether he’ll sign Senate certificate

For Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s fourth appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Wednesday night to discuss the Norm Coleman-Al Franken election-contest lawsuit, Maddow popped the question: “If Mr. Coleman appeals to the state Supreme Court, and then the state Supreme Court rules that one of these two men have won the election, you will sign an election certificate then, won’t you?”

“It’s premature to say that, based on a number of factors,” Pawlenty replied. “We just need more information as to evaluating this case.” Video after jump. 

The state courts might decide he should wait to sign an election certificate until federal appeals run their course, he said. Or federal courts might accept a separate Coleman lawsuit based on equal-protection claims and impose a delay on state court proceedings.

And even aside from those scenarios, the governor said he wouldn’t uncap his signing pen until he sees “how harshly or strongly the issues have been dealt with” by state Supreme Court justices.

The Fix, a Washington Post blog, deemed the performance positively presidential.

Perhaps most impressive was his ability to keep an absolutely straight face during Maddow’s repeated and extended characterizations of the Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, as “gleeful” about the Minnesota Senate seat staying empty.

Here’s the video. If you want to skip Maddow’s intro on the election contest’s status, Pawlenty starts at the 3:30 mark.