Pawlenty, Doyle signed pact to share money-saving tips. Photo: MN Northstar

This summer, it seems whenever you turn on the TV or tune in a radio newscast, another prominent pol has dropped out of contention for re-election. Republican governors especially have been dropping like flies: first Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty, then Alaska’s Sarah Palin, and last week (officially and inevitably), South Carolina’s Mark Sanford. Now a Democrat will join that field: Wisconsin’s Jim Doyle.

With Doyle’s departure — his decision to not run for a third term is expected to become official today – Wisconsin likely won’t see anything quite like the crowd of possible gubernatorial candidates (nearly 40-strong) that has overrun Minnesota since Pawlenty’s announcement.

But a couple Republicans have already seized on Doyle’s perceived political weakness as an open invitation to re-take the governor’s mansion.

The Democratic field will likely include Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who was also in the news over the weekend for stopping an assault at the Wisconsin State Fair parking lot, leaving him hospitalized with injuries to his head and a broken hand.

“The mayor’s heroic actions clearly saved a woman and others from harm,” Doyle said.

Still unclear is whether Doyle will also resign from office, like Palin, or complete his term, like fellow two-termers Pawlenty and Sanford.

Sanford’s statement last week that his political career will end when he leaves the South Carolina governor’s mansion was anticlimactic after a summer of scandal that made the move almost inevitable. The straw that apparently broke Sanford: news that he’d used a state plane for personal travel.

But until Sanford made his announcement, there still seemed a chance that he might follow the example of a stalwart backer in his inner circle: South Carolina comptroller and Duluth native Richard Eckstrom.

Eckstrom proved that billing the state government for personal travel and being the butt of a “Saturday Night Live” satire sketch need not impede an office-holder from getting re-elected. South Carolina voters apparently accepted his apology for driving a state minivan and buying gas with a state credit card for a 2004 family trip to his home state of Minnesota.

Pawlenty stopped short of calling Gov. Sanford’s absence-without-leave a “dereliction of duty” — words he was ready to apply to himself were he to refuse a state Supreme Court order to sign an election certificate in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate contest. Pawlenty isn’t prepared to stand by former Sen. Norm Coleman to that degree.

Here’s Pawlenty speaking to reporters earlier in the weekend, before a speech at the Arkansas Republican Party’s annual Governor’s Dinner — a keynoting gig that was Gov. Sanford’s last year.

Pawlenty mentions former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (a likely repeat GOP presidential contender in 2012) was out of town for some video work; presumably that’s Huckabee’s weekend Fox News show, on which he hosted country music’s Gatlin Brothers.

After the speech, Pawlenty seemed to sympathize with at least the concept of taking some personal time, if not for the purpose Sanford put his to. “Regardless of whether you’re a governor or anyone else, having a little clear-your-head time is probably a good thing,” Pawlenty told the AP. “But you always have to make sure you stay in touch in case there’s a problem. You have to communicate.” Before his Argentina expedition, Sanford was considered alongside Pawlenty and Huckabee a 2012 presidential hopeful.

The AP ranked Pawlenty as one of the more hard-to-track governors because he doesn’t disclose his whereabouts or planned activities.

Tim Pawlenty: “The Geek.” Minnesota earnest with a dash of bland — is he flying too far under the radar?

Of course, Pawlenty is doing his best to raise that national stock in anticipation of a possible 2012 presidential campaign. The latest evidence: He’ll be in Little Rock tonight for a gathering of Arkansas Republicans.

The Fix’s Chris Cillizza sizes up the situation this way:

Right off the bat I would say the elimination (or close to it) of Ensign and Sanford as 2012 candidate helps candidates like Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as it effectively narrows the field and creates more oxygen — in the press, in money circles, in the talent race — for them.

Columnist Nick Coleman saw a Pawlenty angle too, with the Mrs. in mind, in a Twitter message:

Fortunately, our MN governors are known to have “smoking hot” wives, if they say so themselves. No Argentinian firecrackers need apply.

“Sign me up for your Tea Party, patriots,” she said in a video message. “God bless you and keep up the great work!”

While Bachmann lent her full support for the movement, Republican Reps. Erik Paulsen and John Kline remained silent on the tea parties.

Local organizers decided to forgo speeches by elected officials but didn’t shun words of endorsement.

“Although we had many requests, we did not want any elected officials to speak at this event,” Tea Party organizer Margaret Lee said in a press release.

When Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave the RNC Weekly Republican Response last weekend, he didn’t mention the Tea Party to be held right outside his office a few days later. Other speculative Republican presidential nominees ran with the Tea Party cause, however, including Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who all showed up at their local gatherings.

Some elected officials were cautious about the Tea Party. “I’m just thinking what I should say because it can be used against me in a court of law,” Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, joked to the Star Tribune.

While Minnesota’s organizers left Republican leaders out the mix from the get-go, their presence at other rallies left a bad impression, the Washington Independent reports. Jason Pye, a libertarian organizer in Atlanta, Ga., was not pleased when Newt Gingrich became involved.

“Newt Gingrich enabled George W. Bush,” Pye told the Washington Independent. “He enabled the big spending. He lobbied conservative Republicans to compromise their principles and support Medicare Part D. He supported the bailout.”

In fact, a number of signs at the St. Paul rally served to remind tea party attendees that Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, “was right” and that mainstream Republicans were late to the party.

Bachmann’s message to Tea Party-goers:

There have been all kinds of zany results, with top seeds Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney going down early, prompting suspicions of ballot stuffing. The final four also includes a pair of sixth seeds (Reps. Ron Paul and Mike Pence) and a third seed (South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford). Of course, given the zealotry of Paul’s supporters, he probably should have been considered the favorite from the outset.

(h/t: Political Animal)