Minnesota’s Tim Pawlenty talks about his plans for a new, hipper GOP—and why it might have for the best that he didn’t get the veep nomination.
Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is super nice, which may be why, in the end, John McCain skipped over this stalwart surrogate for the somewhat folksier Sarah Palin. But he may yet finish first. His low-key charm and successful record on key issues (primarily energy and education) have propelled him to the top tier of possible Republican nominees for 2012.
Pawlenty governs his mostly blue state as a pragmatic conservative, not just working with Democrats but establishing relationships with them, creating an atmosphere of respect that the governor recently had to explain to a baffled Sean Hannity. Discussing the ongoing Minnesota Senate recount, Hannity implied that the Democratic secretary of state, Mark Ritchie, might have his finger on the scale, and that "cheating" was "going on." Pawlenty refused to take the bait: "I want to be clear about this. I know Mark Ritchie. He is a partisan on the other side of the aisle as I am as governor. He is trying his best to conduct this fairly."
“‘Drill, baby, drill’ is, not by itself, a comprehensive, contemporary energy strategy.”
Recently, I tried to throw Pawlenty off his Minnesota nice routine, as well. And I also failed.
Q: Under what circumstances would you go hunting with Sarah Palin?
A: [Laughs] Under any circumstances. I understand she's a good hunter, so it's all good.
Q: What does the phrase "lost in the wilderness" mean to you?
A: You know, I use a different phrase, I use the phrase, "a Dr. Phil moment of self-analysis." You know there's going to be an inevitable internal debate about where the Republican Party is and where it's headed. I think it boils down to two things; those who are gonna say it's gotta be more conservative and go back to its roots [he pronounces this word as "ruts"]. Others who say it's gotta be more modern, not to be confused with "moderate." But I think those two things can be harmonized. They can be fused together in a way that allows us to be both a conservative and a contemporary, or fresh, party.
And so like a computer screen, I think the screen has kind of gone black and we need to hit the "refresh button" for the Republican party.
Q: Hit "restart?
A: Well maybe not "restart" but at least "refresh."
Tracy Quan's latest novel is Diary of a Jetsetting Call Girl, set in Provence and praised in The Nation as a "deft account of occupational rigors and anxieties before the crash." Tracy's debut, Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl, and the sequel, Diary of a Married Call Girl, are international bestsellers. A regular columnist for The Guardian, she has written for many publications including Cosmopolitan, The Financial Times, and The New York Times.
Joe Mathews is a journalist, an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, and a contributing writer at the Los Angeles Times. He previously served as Justice Department reporter for the Wall Street Journal and as a city desk reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He is the author of The People’s Machine: Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Rise of Blockbuster Democracy.
Gerald Posner is the award-winning author of 10 investigative nonfiction bestsellers, ranging from political assassinations, to Nazi war criminals, to 9/11, to terrorism (www.posner.com). Posner lives in Miami Beach with his wife, the author Trisha Posner.
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Amanda Fortini has written for The New Yorker, Slate, Elle, and New York, among other publications. She lives in Los Angeles.
Wonkette emerita, political junkie, self-hating journalist, and author of Dog Days. She has worked for Time, Mother Jones, Suck, and most recently, Radar. Follow her on Twitter.
Wonkette emerita, political junkie, self-hating journalist, and author of Dog Days. She has worked for Time, Mother Jones, Suck, and most recently, Radar. Follow her on Twitter.
Wonkette emerita, political junkie, self-hating journalist, and author of Dog Days. She has worked for Time, Mother Jones, Suck, and most recently, Radar. Follow her on Twitter.
Wonkette emerita, political junkie, self-hating journalist, and author of Dog Days. She has worked for Time, Mother Jones, Suck, and most recently, Radar. Follow her on Twitter.
Interesting interview. It's like you said, "I'm not scared of him." Which in and of itself is very weird right now. I think I need a drink.
Thank you.
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