VP or not VP

Pawlenty’s mullet, trimmed for veepstakes, is back

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ditched his mild-mannered mullet hairstyle for the Republican veepstakes over the summer. But now he has grown it back, giving 2012 presidential handicappers something to watch. Is he trying to show he’s a Mesabi Maverick? Or simply readying his Bemidji neck warmer for winter?
Full historical analysis in pictures after the jump.

Tim Pawlenty to Rachel Maddow on MSNBC: ‘I’m available’

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty made an election eve appearance on MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” Monday — a rare visit by a conservative on Maddow’s fledgling cable-TV companion to her popular Air America radio program. His key message, with an eye to 2012: “I’m available, I’m available.” Video after the jump, with a transcription of Pawlenty’s comments on McCain and Obama, the Franken-Coleman U.S. Senate race in Minnesota, and whether Gov. Sarah Palin is a drag on the ticket or a future leader of the party.

VP or not VP: Salter pushed for Pawlenty

Buried in Robert Draper’s absorbing inside look at John McCain’s presidential campaign is a minor nugget regarding Gov. Tim Pawlenty. As top strategists Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis were pushing a Sarah Palin VP pick, the other member of McCain’s inner circle, Mark Salter, was a T-Paw advocate.
A senior adviser said: “Salter was always [...]

‘Tasergate?’ Palin borrows silly phrases from right-wing blogs

The Republican VP candidate’s airborne exchange with reporters yesterday was a trip down memory lane, a brief glimpse back at the Sarah Palin we grew to love a few weeks ago. Like the rich deposits of oil that lie just off the continental shelf, any actual ideas that Palin might have possessed were sealed [...]

T-Paw praises Palin to the skies on UK’s Sky News

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty heaped praise on Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin in an interview on Sky News — the British answer to another Rupert Murdoch TV holding, Fox News — that was conducted shortly before Thursday’s vice presidential debate. ”I’m impressed with the pick,” Pawlenty says in the video, calling Palin “a good selection,” “a fresh face,” “a reformer,” and “a maverick” [...]

‘How ya doin’?’ McCain on the VP’s two (maybe three) duties

A stock line of Sen. John McCain’s over the years has been that the vice president of the United States really only has two duties. He hasn’t always named the same two duties, but none would require of Gov. Sarah Palin anything as difficult as debating Sen. Joe Biden or even being interviewed by Katie [...]

VP or not VP: If McCain outlives Palin’s candidacy, Pawlenty’s in the wings

The agonies of Sarah Palin — from pick to Couric — have only heightened concerns about John McCain’s life expectancy. The so-called Eagleton Scenario — dropping Palin from the GOP ticket — would be a balm for those fears and could be one debate away. If the second slot reopens, veepstakes runner-up Tim Pawlenty is waiting in the wings, in Europe of all places, with freshly-burnished foreign policy experience.

T-Paw meets the Son of Sam

During his travels across the country to stump for Sen. John McCain (and bid for the GOP veep slot), Gov. Tim Pawlenty positively owned the phrase “Sam’s Club Republican.” Today T-Paw hits the road again — D.C.-bound in fact, but with his vice presidential hopes a pale memory — for an event billed as the Sustainability Solutions [...]

Arnold’s RNC absence dooms return to site of ‘Jingle All the Way’ glory

Lost in the hubbub over Hurricane Gustaf, party leaders’ phone-ins and Republican preganancy rates is what should have been a triumphal return by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzegger to the Nicollet Island Park Pavilion in Minneapolis, where last night his state’s delegation held a late-night party under twinkling red, white and blue lights.
The pavilion — a [...]

RNC official touts vice-presidential nominee “Sarah Pawlenty”

Republican National Committee vice-chair Jo Ann Davidson slips while touting the party’s vice-presidential nominee on Tuesday night, potentially sending nervous Republicans — or at least one Republican — into wistful daydreams of what might have been.