The Fix: T-Paw is the ‘buzz candidate of the Republican establishment’

Tim Pawlenty is currently the second most influential Republican in the country, according to the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza. Pawlenty leapfrogged former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in the rankings, but was overtaken by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin for the top spot. Cillizza marvels that Pawlenty “has seemingly been everywhere” in recent weeks, but wonders if he can keep the buzz going until 2012.

Here’s the blurb:

2. Tim Pawlenty: Tpaw is the buzz candidate of the Republican establishment at the moment. From the large turnout for his first D.C. event last night to the announcement of a deep and talented team to advise his PAC, it’s clear Pawlenty is the current “it” boy in Republican politics. Pawlenty, to his credit, seems to understand that he started behind people like Romney, Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in terms of name identification among party activists and has seemingly been everywhere over the past few months trying to rectify that problem. The danger, of course, in Tpaw’s full court press is that it is still a long ways to 2012 and it’s tough to be the new, hot thing for three years. (Previous ranking: 2)