On O’Reilly, Jon Stewart gives Pawlenty mixed reviews

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart appeared as a guest on Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor last night and ran down his take on GOP presidential candidates. While Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann got mention, more as a punchline — “If Sarah Palin doesn’t run, Michele Bachmann could definitely put on that blazer” — Tim Pawlenty got props for seeming “like a reasonable guy.” But, Stewart added, Pawlenty has left Minnesota in worse shape than did, say, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Stewart acknowledged some frustration with President Barack Obama’s performance and said he’d be open to voting for a Republican should the right one come along. But none seemed to make the cut.

Still, when asked by O’Reilly if there are any Republican candidates he likes or respects, Pawlenty was the first mention.

“I would imagine that Tim Pawlenty seems like a reasonably logical individual. I think he seems like a reasonable guy.”

A minute later, however, he added, “I thought that he [Romney] didn’t do terribly for Massachusetts. I think Pawlenty actually was a little worse for Minnesota than maybe Romney was for Massachusetts. I look at their executive experience, I tend to think executives tend to make good presidents.”

Still it’s more love than Pawlenty has gotten from Stewart’s Comedy Central cohort Stephen Colbert, who riffed on Pawlenty’s premature announcement of his candidacy to CNN in April and the Minnesota Republican’s attempt to “attract the kidses” in Iowa with pop culture references to Charlie Sheen and Lady Gaga.

Watch part one:

Watch part two: