Almanac: At the Capitol

The person who introduced Gov. Tim Pawlenty in front of the National Press Club proved one of Pawlenty's problems: his name is hard to say. The guy, Jerry Zremski (no easy name either) tripped over his name repeatedly. Plenty of broadcast professionals in his home state mispronounced his name here for years, overemphasizing "PAW-len-ty" instead of more of a "puh-len-ty." Regardless, his speech and continued national buzz will get more people saying his name, correctly or not. The gifted public speaker opened with a joke, as usual, that got laughs, as usual. He didn't read his remarks, which always results in a better performance for him. He's best speaking from the gut even though I know he's been working on this speech for a while.

His "Sam's Club Republican" speech is essentially the same core message he delivered to the GOP State Convention earlier this summer. It talked about reaching out to blue collar voters. The governor said "we didn't do very well" in the last election cycle and in special elections since. He said the party has to grow to win and it needs a "message and messenger" who can appeal to new audiences like women and people of color, as well as Sam's Club shoppers.

Many may see this as another audition for vice president and he addressed that humorously right off the top. He said he was going to make news right away and address a question many may have about when or who. Pawlenty said "I don't have any insights on where Brett Favre is going to play." The room roared. The final question was what qualities should a vice president have, Pawlenty promptly responded "discretion" and that capped off the event.