T-Paw flinches from turkey-touching; Palin didn’t blink at bird butchery

Gov. Tim Pawlenty shied away from touching a turkey in his chambers this afternoon (video), inviting comparison to potential 2012 rival Sarah Palin, who last Thanksgiving season carried on with a TV interview unruffled by the turkey slaughter going on behind her.

Pawlenty has been trying to catch up with Palin’s notoriety in the early running for the next Republican presidential nomination. But his “bland” speeches are proving no match for the bestselling Twitterer from Wasilla, so his hands-off approach to poultry isn’t likely to change that milquetoast image.