VP or not VP

“The big news out of the Conservative Political Action Conference … was an impassioned speech given by Gov. Tim Pawlenty,” intoned John McLaughlin last week on “The McLaughlin Group,” PBS’s exhausted political shout-fest. In a six-minute segment titled “Pawlenty 2012!” the host announced that Minnesota’s governor “is now positioned to be one of the five frontrunners [...]

Recent goings at the Capitol: Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen introduce a bipartisan bill to hinder copper thieves; Rep. Betty McCollum urges the president to enforce the ban on assault weapon imports; and CNN notes that Al Franken has taken to calling himself “Senator-elect.”

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will appear at this month’s Conservative Political Action Conference only via TV hookup, while the man she aced out for the 2008 GOP vice presidential nomination may still take the stage: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been invited to speak at a morning session on the final day of the conference, [...]

The Twin Cities played a starring role in the selection of both major-party vice-presidential candidates this year — on stage in the case of Republican Sarah Palin and behind the scenes in the case of Democrat Joe Biden. But just as the grand total of Palin’s purchases on GOP credit cards (which started in Minnesota) was a moving target, the details of Biden’s back-door tete-a-tete with Barack Obama in Minneapolis last August have shifted over time. At issue: Exactly how long did they meet in person at Obama’s hotel, and exactly how many others (and of what gender) was Obama still considering for the veep slot then?

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ditched his mild-mannered mullet hairstyle for the Republican veepstakes over the summer. But now he has grown it back, giving 2012 presidential handicappers something to watch. Is he trying to show he’s a Mesabi Maverick? Or simply readying his Bemidji neck warmer for winter?
Full historical analysis in pictures”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty made an election eve appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Monday — a rare visit by a conservative on Maddow’s fledgling cable-TV companion to her popular Air America radio program. His key message, with an eye to 2012: “I’m available, I’m available.” Video after the jump, with a transcription of Pawlenty’s comments on McCain and Obama, the Franken-Coleman U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, and whether Gov. Sarah Palin is a drag on the ticket or a future leader of the party.

Buried in Robert Draper’s absorbing inside look at John McCain’s presidential campaign is a minor nugget regarding Gov. Tim Pawlenty. As top strategists Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis were pushing a Sarah Palin VP pick, the other member of McCain’s inner circle, Mark Salter, was a T-Paw advocate.
A senior adviser said: “Salter was always [...]

The Republican VP candidate’s airborne exchange with reporters yesterday was a trip down memory lane, a brief glimpse back at the Sarah Palin we grew to love a few weeks ago. Like the rich deposits of oil that lie just off the continental shelf, any actual ideas that Palin might have possessed were sealed [...]

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty heaped praise on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in an interview on Sky News — the British answer to another Rupert Murdoch TV holding, Fox News — that was conducted shortly before Thursday’s vice presidential debate. ”I’m impressed with the pick,” Pawlenty says in the video, calling Palin “a good selection,” “a fresh face,” “a reformer,” and “a maverick” [...]

A stock line of Sen. John McCain’s over the years has been that the vice president of the United States really only has two duties. He hasn’t always named the same two duties, but none would require of Gov. Sarah Palin anything as difficult as debating Sen. Joe Biden or even being interviewed by Katie [...]