Egged on by Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace, Gov. Tim Pawlenty told a national TV audience Sunday he’d be unlikely to give thumbs down if asked to be John McCain’s vice presidential running mate:

 

"If somebody came to me and said that, of course, it would be an honor to be mentioned, honor to be asked. It would be difficult to turn that down. But I don’t have any designs, and it’s not why I’m such a great and strong promoter of Senator McCain."

Both MPR and the Star Tribune note it’s Pawlenty’s strongest statement to date on his willingness to accept the veep slot. True enough, but consider the context: an extended interview alongside Virginia Gov. Tom Kaine, who had just said the same thing about being Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate (and who, unlike Pawlenty, has said it before.) Fox billed the pair as "two top-level surrogates and potential vice presidential candidates." Pawlenty had just witnessed Wallace extracting an answer from Kaine to the veep question — would anything less than a "ditto" have sufficed for Wallace or eager Fox viewers?