Buried deep in a post about Gov. Tim Pawlenty hedging on his promise to serve out the full length of his term in office, TPT’s Mary Lahammer reveals a stunning bit of information: Pawlenty has shed his trademark mullet.

Speculation is running rampant that the potential GOP running mate’s “business in front, party in back” style may have drawn too stark a contrast with the elder McCain’s “sun spots in front, wispy strands of silver in back.” Other rumors have McCain demanding that everyone on his campaign maintain well-groomed head and facial hair or else he’ll have manager Stump Merrill remove them from the line-up.

Known regionally as “hockey hair,” “helmet head” and “the Bemidji neck warmer,” Pawlenty’s hair received several column inches of coverage from the Twin Cities’ largest media outlet in recent weeks. But this time the big scoop on the governor’s ‘do belongs to Lahammer.