2012

Asked what the biggest threat facing Minnesota now is, gubernatorial candidate and state Rep. Tom Rukavina, DFL-Virginia, is quick with an answer: Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s unallotments. In a video by Craig Stellmacher, Rukavina says the legislature “should’ve come out swinging” immediately after Pawlenty decided unilaterally to cut $2.7 billion from the state budget. He believes [...]

In a matchup between President Barack Obama and Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Obama would win by ten points, according to a new St. Cloud State University poll (pdf) released Tuesday. When asked who they would vote for in 2012, 49 percent of Minnesotans surveyed said they’d support Obama, while 39.7 percent said they’d back Pawlenty.

Rep. Michele Bachmann told the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal that she isn’t considering a run for the White House in 2012 — despite Palin-Bachmann 2012 stickers — but she is very interested in seeing Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, try for the seat.

John McCain says he hasn’t settled on supporting Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for president in 2012, instead naming Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and two others as “very good candidates.” Video after the jump.

“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 [...]

With the presidential election less than four years away and a new president yet to move into the White House, media speculation continues over which Republicans will be the front runners. On ABC’s This Week, George Stephanopoulos asked Sen. John McCain who he supports. Sarah Palin did not top the list, but Gov. Tim Pawlenty [...]

Although the new president hasn’t even been sworn in yet, political junkies are looking ahead to 2012. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal told Associated Press reporters on Wednesday that he won’t be on presidential ballots in four years. Jindal is being watched as one of the top Republican contenders together with Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee and, [...]