KSTP.com - Pawlenty makes rounds on national TV

KSTP.com - Pawlenty makes rounds on national TV: "'I'm supporting him for those reasons not because I want to be VP or not. There's going to be a lot of great choices that he'll have to pick from and he's not even thinking about that now. I'm focused on being Governor right now,' Pawlenty said on CNN." Not to mention the whole 35W bridge fiasco which just keeps getting worse and worse.
After they gave the company the bid...and started work on the project....someone pointed out a MAJOR design flaw....which the correction of has added more money to the bill.

My father works on bid/contract projects....they are only allowed to go so much over budget after the bid is accepted then there is a penalty or a re-bidding process to happen.

This company didn't have to go thru any of that...they were allowed to revise their bid without new bids being taken in nor (by the sounds of it) being accessed a monatary fine. Although you've got to wonder about them sticking with a company who should have caught such a major defect. - I've been trying to find the news stories to show this but am currently having issues locating them [I remember them talking about it on the radio though]

But all that being said....

I don't think at this point McCain would want to attach himself too much to Pawlenty--who would be shadowed in his office the way Mondale & Humphrey were....and I probably the closest vice-president with his amount of service is probably Spiro Agnew [you know the one that was impeached under Nixon for tax evasion?]

My guess would be that the Republican party will probably talk Coleman into running with McCain, and Pawlenty for his vacating spot. The only problem is that the dem that is running against him is either going to be Ciresi or Franken (more than likely franken)

Poor Pawlenty....no matter what he does his political career is basically over, the MNDoT problems sounding the final death nail (he is even getting the blame for the 35W bridge collapse built in 1964 when he was 4 yrs old)...he has been hit by so much in his tenure...but the problems with MNDoT is the final straw.

His Lieutenant Gov. (Carol Molnau) is heading up MNDoT and is being blamed for not catching the problems with the bridge sooner, for budget short-falls, for questionable bidding practices, for workers charging for work not done, and for her opposition to the light-rail-system (the sink hole of tax payers funds!).

Actually Pawlenty isn't as bad as the liberal media paints him.

He did balance the states budget his first year in...without raising taxes, even though it was after 9/11. Although he did raise 'fees' for services which in many minds (like my own) is just a tax by another name.

In fact his refusal to raise taxes took its toll when there was a government shutdown...when other politicians refused to do what was necessary to meet the budget.

The state actually had a budget surplus under his administration! Although quite a bit of that was lost when his cigarette fee was struck down as being unconstitutional under the MN constitution (it being deemed another tax, which can not come from the governors office only the legislature).

He is also a big supporter for ethanol fuel, which will be going not just E85 (15% ethanol) but rather E80 in MN...this will of couse effect the cars which can be sold in MN as CA regulations effect the cars that can be sold there, as E85 pushes the capabilities of most existing cars.

He is for cheaper drugs, and had originally intended to allow the use of the MN comprehensive insurance moneys to pay for them (MN version of health care for the poor and old) but due to (a) opposition of using tax money for foreign drugs and (b) lower safety standards of these drugs.

And he has helped with the illegal immigration problem (which costs MN tax payers alone $188 million/yr!)...and despite what many people think, MN has a tremedous problem. When you take into consideration the cost of not only health insurance, welfare, ADC (aide for dependent children), food stamps, there is also the cost of ESL, translators, lost jobs (due to companies being shut down for employing illegals), crime, gangs, detox, etc. Granted all these programs would have to be in place in the first place, but the extra strain is hurting the state across the board.

He is not up for re-election again until 2010...hopefully he will have a better second half to his governorship....he is a very low-key dude who is actually a really good governor.

not as flamboyant as Jesse, so he flies under the radar for most people....but those around him are his problem. Kind of like Clinton at this point.