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Tim Pawlenty's stock soars in Romney-world
Pawlenty and Mitt Romney have developed an easy bond. | AP Photo
By MIKE ALLEN and JIM VANDEHEI | 6/20/12 4:38 AM EDT
Tim Pawlenty has jumped to the top of the vice presidential shortlist of several Mitt Romney advisers after emerging as the most effective — and well-liked — surrogate for the GOP nominee-to-be, according to several Republicans familiar with campaign deliberations.
The former Minnesota governor has impressed top Romney officials with his winning onstage presence at a grueling roster of Republican events throughout the country and with his low-maintenance personal style that has made him a favorite with the campaign’s tight-knit inner circle at the Boston headquarters.
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Pawlenty is strong where Romney is weak — with the regular-guy, working-man connection with voters in casual settings.
“Pawlenty will walk up and put a supporter in a headlock,” said a Republican consultant who was startled to witness just that. “He provides a nice yin and yang to Romney.”
Several top Republicans said that as the hockey-playing son of a blue-collar worker, and a longtime champion of connecting with what he has called “Sam’s Club Republicans,” Pawlenty would be comfortable campaigning among working-class voters in a way that Romney never will be.
In addition, Pawlenty is an evangelical Christian but is low-key enough about his faith that he doesn’t scare off secular voters. This could help Romney with religious conservatives who may be skeptical of — or even hostile to — his Mormon faith.
“He’s great with conservatives but doesn’t scare off women,” a Romney campaign official said of Pawlenty.
Not only have Romney and Pawlenty developed an easy bond when they travel together, but their wives — Ann Romney and Mary Pawlenty — have developed a genuine friendship that has surprised some campaign insiders.
Romney has made clear to his closest advisers that the vice presidential pick will be his call alone. So the Pawlenty momentum could end abruptly if the candidate decides he needs to head in a different direction. But right now, a lot of the talk internally is about Pawlenty — how he checks most, if not all, of the most important boxes and how other possible contenders do not.
This caveat needs to be aired for every veep story: Beth Myers, who is leading the search effort, and Romney are the only two who know the nitty-gritty details of where things are headed. But the chatter among other Romney insiders provides a number of clues as to who’s up, who’s down and who’s probably out.
Several top Republicans said Pawlenty is better now than he was on his own campaign, when he got over-programmed with too much advice and lost the refreshing authenticity that now is his calling card. Friends say his own campaign came to be a grind, but he has found that running for Romney is fun.
“Frankly, in a lot of ways, he has been able to make the case for Mitt more eloquently than sometimes he made the case for himself,” a former Pawlenty campaign official said.
And what do top officials at Romney headquarters love about Pawlenty?
“They respect people who are loyal and show up and work hard, and he has done both in spades,” the former Pawlenty official said. “From the perspective of Boston, I think that really matters. On a personal level, folks really like him. And he’s an articulate, effective, economical messenger for the campaign.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77619.html#ixzz1yQhmgBWq
Pawlenty and Mitt Romney have developed an easy bond. | AP Photo
By MIKE ALLEN and JIM VANDEHEI | 6/20/12 4:38 AM EDT
Tim Pawlenty has jumped to the top of the vice presidential shortlist of several Mitt Romney advisers after emerging as the most effective — and well-liked — surrogate for the GOP nominee-to-be, according to several Republicans familiar with campaign deliberations.
The former Minnesota governor has impressed top Romney officials with his winning onstage presence at a grueling roster of Republican events throughout the country and with his low-maintenance personal style that has made him a favorite with the campaign’s tight-knit inner circle at the Boston headquarters.
Continue Reading
Pawlenty is strong where Romney is weak — with the regular-guy, working-man connection with voters in casual settings.
“Pawlenty will walk up and put a supporter in a headlock,” said a Republican consultant who was startled to witness just that. “He provides a nice yin and yang to Romney.”
Several top Republicans said that as the hockey-playing son of a blue-collar worker, and a longtime champion of connecting with what he has called “Sam’s Club Republicans,” Pawlenty would be comfortable campaigning among working-class voters in a way that Romney never will be.
In addition, Pawlenty is an evangelical Christian but is low-key enough about his faith that he doesn’t scare off secular voters. This could help Romney with religious conservatives who may be skeptical of — or even hostile to — his Mormon faith.
“He’s great with conservatives but doesn’t scare off women,” a Romney campaign official said of Pawlenty.
Not only have Romney and Pawlenty developed an easy bond when they travel together, but their wives — Ann Romney and Mary Pawlenty — have developed a genuine friendship that has surprised some campaign insiders.
Romney has made clear to his closest advisers that the vice presidential pick will be his call alone. So the Pawlenty momentum could end abruptly if the candidate decides he needs to head in a different direction. But right now, a lot of the talk internally is about Pawlenty — how he checks most, if not all, of the most important boxes and how other possible contenders do not.
This caveat needs to be aired for every veep story: Beth Myers, who is leading the search effort, and Romney are the only two who know the nitty-gritty details of where things are headed. But the chatter among other Romney insiders provides a number of clues as to who’s up, who’s down and who’s probably out.
Several top Republicans said Pawlenty is better now than he was on his own campaign, when he got over-programmed with too much advice and lost the refreshing authenticity that now is his calling card. Friends say his own campaign came to be a grind, but he has found that running for Romney is fun.
“Frankly, in a lot of ways, he has been able to make the case for Mitt more eloquently than sometimes he made the case for himself,” a former Pawlenty campaign official said.
And what do top officials at Romney headquarters love about Pawlenty?
“They respect people who are loyal and show up and work hard, and he has done both in spades,” the former Pawlenty official said. “From the perspective of Boston, I think that really matters. On a personal level, folks really like him. And he’s an articulate, effective, economical messenger for the campaign.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77619.html#ixzz1yQhmgBWq
