Mitt Romney

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is certainly trying to gin up support for a 2012 presidential bid. Since announcing that he would not seek a third term, the lame-duck governor has been crisscrossing the country speaking to the Republican faithful. On Monday evening he was on Fox News chatting with Greta Van Susteren. But while the Drudge [...]

Tim Pawlenty travels the country, speaking to whoever will invite him about the GOP’s future and other topics. He’s refrained from announcing any extramarital affairs or his impending resignation. But the Minnesota governor’s support as a 2012 presidential prospect among Republicans nationally remains low, according to a new Gallup Poll.

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.

The stunning downfall of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford — and earlier, another Republican pol, Sen. John Ensign, who also fessed up to marital infidelity — “creates more oxygen” (in one wag’s words) for a 2012 presidential run by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who rarely fails to mention how “hot” his wife is.

The Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza has updated his top 10 list of Republicans to keep an eye on heading towards the 2012 presidential contest. Gov. Tim Pawlenty makes the cut in slot nine, two places down from the previous list.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has crapped out of the elite eight in National Public Radio’s contest to see who will head the Republican ticket in 2012. After surviving a tough battle against former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, T-Paw got blindsided by South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint. The eighth seed had already shocked former Arkansas Gov. Mike [...]

Gov. Tim Pawlenty probably wishes he hadn’t been included in the presidential straw poll at the just-concluded Conservative Political Action Conference. Pawlenty was the top choice of just 2 percent of voters to be the GOP’s standard-bearer in 2012.
The winner of the straw poll was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, garnering 20 percent of the [...]

As the National Republican Senatorial Committee launches the blog MinnesotaRecount.com, the New York Times reports that Mitt Romney is directing cash — $5,000 so far — from his PAC to help fund Norm Coleman’s recount efforts. In addition to the $5k, Romney’s “Free and Strong America” gave $2,300 to Coleman’s re-election campaign. The Times’ Michael [...]

Erick Erickson, writing at Red State, receives a visit from the ghost of Finger-Pointing Future:
At this moment, however, it is absolutely clear — there is an effort, organized or not, by supporters of Mitt Romney to harm the reputation of Governor Sarah Palin…. It may be hard for you to believe, but there are Romney [...]

Thomas Frank first gained acclaim as a founder of The Baffler, a witty, acerbic sporadically published business journal that took glee in mocking conventional economic wisdom. He became a household name with the publication of What’s the Matter With Kansas in 2004, which took his home state as a case study in how Republicans have capitalized on cultural issues such as abortion and gay marriage to convince lower- and middle-class residents to vote against their own economic interests. Frank’s latest provocation is The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule, published last month. Its guiding thesis is that the current mess in Washington is not the product of inept politicians and bureaucrats, but rather an intentional dismantling of effective government by conservatives and their allies in the private sector. Frank was recently in St. Paul for the Republican National Convention. I spoke to him yesterday by phone from Raleigh, North Carolina, where he was slated to give a reading. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation.