Mike Huckabee

While hardly an accurate indicator of how Tim Pawlenty might do as the GOP’s 2012 presidential candidate, a new Rasmussen poll does have one takeaway for Minnesota’s governor: he’s got a long way to go to raise awareness among Republicans about who he is.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said on CNN Sunday he’s “glad” Jenny Sanford didn’t stand by last week as her husband, South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford, confessed before cameras to intercontinental philandering. (Off-camera, Pawlenty reportedly said his own wife would call the media and throw his things out of the house if he tried such a stunt.)

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is dancing into the Sweet 16. Boasting an impressive No. 2 seed, T-Paw dispatched former Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo in the opening round of National Public Radio’s 32-candidate contest to pick the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
Up next for Pawlenty, however, is a redoubtable darling of the conservative base: Newt Gingrich. In early [...]

Over at Salon, Avi Steinberg has written a highly entertaining account of his time patrolling the Hyatt Regency in Minneapolis, headquarters of the Republican National Convention, for a (unnamed) private security firm. He explores the perils of tight pants and Sarah Palin, the noshing habits of secret service officers and the unexpected joys of chanting “Rudy! [...]

Tuesday’s adventures began with my shoulder and Mike Huckabee’s shoulder touching–though he didn’t seem to notice. It ended in front of Babani’s Kurdish Restaurant with a column of riot police who, after firing multiple exploding tear gas canisters a half hour earlier, said “thank you” and “we really appreciate it” in their final effort to disperse the remnants of a particularly dynamic march.

It happened this morning. CBS’s account:

“Mike Huckabee, speaking later in the program, was interrupted by a loud noise. ‘That was Barack Obama,’ he said. ‘He just tripped off a chair. He was getting ready to speak and someone pointed a gun at him and he dove for the floor.’”

More: CNN, CBS

It’s been a busy 24 hours in the presidential race — let’s break down recent events:

Mitt Romney endorses John McCain: This wasn’t entirely unexpected — for Romney to come out for Mike Huckabee, who has virtually no chance of securing enough delegates for the Republican nomination, would be political suicide in Romney’s position, and leave [...]

Living up to expectations and polls, Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) won the Potomac primaries in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C., defeating his Senate colleague Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).

In Virginia, Obama won by a margin of 63-36 as of 9 p.m. CST, with 92 percent reporting. Maryland was a wider margin, with a heavy black vote in [...]

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee scored shocking upset wins over Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., this weekend in the race for the GOP nomination.

McCain, who is widely considered the Republican party’s presumptive nominee, lost in Kansas and Louisiana in his first electoral test after the withdrawal of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney from the race.

Huckabee won [...]

A headline like that simply doesn’t do justice to what happened in Minnesota yesterday.

DFL officials were projecting extremely heavy turnout, possibly topping 120,000 votes. Barack Obama beat that total himself, and handily at that.

In a stunning victory, the Illinois senator beat his counterpart Hillary Clinton (D-NY) handily. As of this morning, 81 percent of the [...]