common cause

In a fawning new profile, The American Spectator trumpets Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s early efforts to secure the 2012 GOP nomination for president. While acknowledging that some dismiss T-Paw as “too vanilla” and citing his “lack of magnetism,” the conservative publication gives Minnesota’s outgoing governor props for unallotment:

When Gov. Tim Pawlenty unilaterally settled the state’s $2.7 billion budget the consensus was that his authority to do so would be challenged in court. But two months later no lawsuits have been filed.

If vetoes are like slapshot goals in hockey, then Gov. Tim Pawlenty scored an election-reform hat trick last week, vetoing first two smaller bills then an omnibus bill, meaning the state enacted no legislative response to flaws revealed by the Coleman-Franken fracas.