Speaking to the College Republicans’ national convention over the weekend, Pawlenty commented on NBC’s “Inside the Obama White House” special: “I haven’t seen something that staged since that half-naked Austrian fell onto the face of Eminem at the MTV music awards.” He continued:

“Eminem was mad. And so, just like Eminem getting dumped on, we’ve got to kind of regroup. We’ve got to continue to fight. And we’ve got some things worth fighting for.”

His meaning could be interpreted in several ways. The GOP is white and angry? Or, like Eminem — who was apparently in on the stunt from the start — is the party merely feigning being “mad”?

Of course, likening the Republican Party to Eminem comes with other baggage: The rapper has been accused of being homophobic and sexist… and recently wrote a song about his wish to “nail” Sarah Palin.

Pawlenty did pick up a familiar refrain, presenting his vision for a new GOP. He said:

“Think purposely about elevating and promoting people who are running for office who don’t fit the stereotype of Republicans. The value of that is the messenger sort of matters. It does matter.”

“And if we have a message which we agree on,” Pawlenty added, the party must “be able to convey it in a modern way” that is appealing to those to whom it is trying to reach out.