Former governor and presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty will not challenge Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2012, the Associated Press reports. Republican Party of Minnesota chair Tony Sutton had suggested that Pawlenty take on Klobuchar following his exit from the presidential race on Sunday.
Several 2012 GOP candidates have released official statements following Sunday’s announcement by former Gov. Tim Pawlenty that his campaign would be ending following its third place finish at the Ames Straw Poll.
Tim Pawlenty ended his campaign for president on Sunday morning following a poor performance in the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday evening. Initially the campaign said it would forge ahead despite coming in a distant third to Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, but on ABC’s This Week, Pawlenty made the announcement that his campaign was over. Almost immediately, however, high ranking GOP officials began suggesting Pawlenty take on Sen. Amy Klobuchar in 2012.
At a campaign stop in Iowa on Friday, a member of the audience grilled Tim Pawlenty on his views about rights for LGBT people. Gabe Aderhold, a senior at Edina High School, asked Pawlenty why he has “not had the courage to stand for me and my friends. You are discriminating against me and it hurts.” Pawlenty said he will never be at the point “where I’ll say that every domestic relationship is the same as traditional marriage.”
It’s once again the time in American politics when all eyes turn to Iowa, and nearly every political pundit in the nation pauses long enough on his/her trek into flyover country to wonder why.
Fox News’ Iowa debate of Republican presidential hopefuls brought frequent clashes between Minnesota’s two candidates. Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty both took turns attacking each others’ records — with the moderator’s prodding. Pawlenty took Bachmann to task for not having enough executive experience while Bachmann compared Pawlenty to President Obama.
AMES, Iowa — Tensions reached their apex Thursday night during the Fox News/Washington Examiner GOP presidential debate, sending Republican enthusiasm through the roof with less than 48 hours until the Ames Straw Poll gates open Saturday.
DES MOINES — As the Ames Straw Poll hovers on the proverbial horizon and the eyes of the nation turn to Iowa, members of the religious right want to make sure their voices are the loudest come Saturday. The “Values Voter Bus Tour,” a coalition comprised of state and national religious conservative organizations, including National Organization for Marriage and The Family Leader, will hit 22 Iowa cities before the Ames Straw Poll, advancing their agenda that entails support of traditional marriage and anti-abortion initiatives.
When the Des Moine Register published a profile of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty Thursday, the campaign liked it enough to send a sanitized version — with all criticism of the candidate and an account of an embarrassing “pantsing” incident of a legislative colleague removed — to media as an email blast.
Tim Pawlenty will become the fourth Republican presidential candidate to sign a pledge by the National Organization for Marriage to oppose the legalization of same-sex marriage. Pawlenty had initially declined to sign the pledge, but NOM launched a pressure campaign to single him out. NOM’s Brian Brown said on Friday that Pawlenty’s campaign told him that the candidate would be signing the pledge.
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