tim pawlenty

A new poll, this time out of New Hampshire:

When PPP polled New Hampshire in April Michele Bachmann was stuck at 4%. She's gained 14 points over the last three months and now finds herself within single digits of Mitt Romney. Romney continues to lead the way in the state with 25% to 18% for Bachmann, 11% for Sarah Palin, 9% for Ron Paul, 7% for Rick Perry and Herman Cain, 6% for Jon Huntsman and Tim Pawlenty, and 4% for Newt Gingrich.

Ironically I still see a lot of people on the left, laughing off Bachmann as some sort of joke. I really hope they stop it soon.

Remember the story of Maurice Clemmons? He was a man that executed four Washington State police. Clemmons was essentially serving a life sentence in Louisiana for a series of burglaries, rape and a bunch of other nasty crimes. Well he was until then-governor, Mike Huckabee, decided to commute the sentence of Clemmons. After that he went to Washington and gunned down four police officers.

There's a reason for this trip down memory lane. Tomorrow morning former Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty, is going to announce his run for the White House in 2012. Pawlenty, like his fellow Republican former governor Mike Huckabee, also has a problem with not taking crimes seriously (h/t Kos):

​Jeremy Giefer served time in jail in 1994 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. But you wouldn't know it to look at the record of the man now charged with sexually molesting his daughter more than 250 times over the last eight years.

That's because two years ago, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Attorney General Lori Swanson, and then-Chief Justice Eric Magnuson unanimously voted to wipe Giefer's record clean, granting him a pardon extraordinary.

One reason Giefer wanted his record cleared? His wife wanted to open a childcare center in the house where they live--the same house where Giefer allegedly molested his young daughter throughout the six years prior.

So what happened with Giefer? Well:

In a stunning admission by GOP presidential hopeful, Tim Pawlenty, he informs us of what we already knew:

PAWLENTY: Well, anybody who’s going to run for this office who’s been in an executive position, or may run, has got some clunkers in their record. Laura, mine I think are fewer and less severe than most. As to climate change, or more specifically cap-and-trade, I’ve just come out and admitted it — look, it was a mistake, it was stupid. [...]

Everybody in the race, well at least the big names in the race, embraced climate change or cap-and-trade at one point or another. Every one of us.

As Think Progress points out:

Indeed, from Pawlenty to Mitt Romney to Newt Gingrich to Mike Huckabee to Mitch Danlies to Sarah Palin, many of the leading contenders for the 2012 presidential nomination have reversed themselves on climate change to pander to their hard-right base over the past few years.

What I haven’t heard yet is why? Why have all these candidates flip-flopped? Is it just to appease their radical base, or do they have some of their own scientific evidence debunking global warming?

Like most I have been very interested in the Mark Sanford story. I think it really highlights the downfalls of the person coined a top GOP contender in 2012. What does it say about the leadership of Stanford when he just disappears for days without letting anyone know where he will be, including his own wife?

I keep thinking “what if a disaster, either natural or man-made, hit South Carolina?” With the governor AWOL, they would not be able to declare an emergency without the extra hurdle of declaring the governor incapacitated. That would really slow up any rescue measures, let alone any needed funding. At best Sanford’s actions should be considered a dereliction of duty, and the Congress of South Carolina should really consider if they want this man to continue leading their state.

Then there is the whole “I went hiking” story he is pushing. As someone who loves hiking, camping and everything outdoors, I never decide to take off without notifying someone. Its just common sense and preparation. What if something happens to me out there? Will anyone know where I am or what I am doing if I break a leg or have a heart attack? This shows the lack of personal responsibility that Sanford accepts, and should be a warning sign to any Sanford supporters that he is not a man worthy of leadership.

And finally there is the family angle to this story. The man didn’t even tell his wife or kids where he was going. The man has four children and just up and leaves on Father’s Day? This might seem like normal “family values” to the party of John Ensign and Ted Haggard, but to people who really understand and cherish family it is just plain creepy.

So with Sanford’s little expedition we see another hopeful for Republican salvation go up in flames. He joins in the ranks of Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindhal. I guess we can start considering Tim Pawlenty a front runner now.

Ed Rollins, former political director for Reagan and strategist for Huckabee, cuts through the BS and delivers some strong words for his party:

The battle to be the "de facto leader" of this party is akin to the question of who wants to steer the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Who represents the party or its values is not relevant when only 26 percent of voters have a positive impression of the party at all and only 7 percent very positive, according to the latest Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey.

The Democratic Party is the reverse, with 49 percent positive. When 60 percent of the country approves of the job President Obama is doing, every Republican leader is going backward.

Republicans are not relevant. We just lost two back-to-back elections (2006 and 2008), and obviously, what we are selling, the voters aren't buying. In the midst of the most severe economic crisis in my lifetime, we have a president who is taking the country on a dramatic sea change. This is what he said he would do and he is doing it. And where are Republicans? Right now we don't have the alternative ideas, a message or, more important, the messenger.

I really like the Titanic reference there.

Interesting enough, this brings me to something I saw last night on Rachel Maddow. She had Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty on. Pawlenty is considered one of the rising stars of the GOP, and he said something that goes right to the heart of the failing Republican argument.

Yup tomorrow morning is lining up to be a day of right wing talking heads:

ABC's "This Week" — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.; Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala.; Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La.; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.; Shelby; T. Boone Pickens, chairman of the energy investment fund BP Capital.

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CNN's "Late Edition" — Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez; Reps. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.; Ted Turner, CNN founder and author of a new memoir.

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"Fox News Sunday" — Sens. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.; Gov. Tim Pawlenty, R-Minn.; former Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, R-Md.

I see four Democrats and eight Republicans. That’s your liberal media in action!

I guess at this point George Allen needs all the help he can get:

And on Wednesday, he'll [George Bush] attend another closed-press fundraiser for GOP Sen. George Allen of Virginia, whose race just got a bit tougher when he -- unintentionally, he claims -- maligned a young Indian American aide to his Democratic opponent on camera.

Of course Bush is even heading out to help the campaign of those candidates that are trying to distance themselves from him:

Tomorrow, he heads to Minnesota, where Rep. Mark Kennedy, the Republican Senate candidate facing a slightly uphill race, has been trying to distance himself from Bush. That might make Kennedy a "weenie" in Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty's book; Pawlenty, who's also looking at a potentially competitive race, told First Read recently that when candidates distance themselves from Bush (he did not name Kennedy), it's a "weenie" maneuver. Bush will raise money for the state GOP and for the party's candidate for Kennedy's House seat. The fundraiser will be closed-press.

"Weenie" maneuver is a perfect description of it. They sure don't want to be associated with Bush, but they don't mind his help on the campaign trails. You can also bet that if they get elected that they will get their own rubberstamp for Bush.