Almanac: At the Capitol

John McCain told the thousands of supporters packed in an Anoka/Blaine airport hanger "with this kind of suppport and enthusiasm we will win Minnesota."  Palin picked up a baby on her way in and mixed policy and personality in her remarks.  She took on Iran saying they should not have nuclear weapons.  Palin also said she will have new responsibilities on government reform, energy and kids with special needs.

First Lady Mary Pawlenty said her husband would haved loved to be here but he's in northern Minnesota for groundbreaking of a billion dollar steel plant, an "economic shot Minnesota needs."

McCain and Palin puppets

Inside it's packed and people are excited.

 Senator McCain leaving for the bus.

Images from the Xcel Energy Center on the RNC closing night.

Gov. Pawlenty sat up in a suite not with McCain campaign folks but surrounded by his family and friends.  He seemed very serious during McCain's speech and not very celebratory.  He did not apppear to crack a smile.  He did stand and applaud.  The disappointment many delegates and political insiders felt turned into to disgust about Pawlenty's mediocre speaking slot.  As many weaker speakers followed him it became more evident that the governor was slighted.  Even Democrats feel bad for the guy

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Gov. Pawlenty will  give a five to six mintue speech tonight at the Republican National Convention.  On my weekly segment with Mondale and Jones on WCCO Radio, Pawlenty told us the schedule is still in flux, but that's what he knows now.  There was talk that Pawlenty might introduce McCain,  but he will be speaking much earlier talking about "John McCain's life story" and "Sam's Club Republicans." Also on the show, Mrs Pawlenty praised the court system for quickly handling all the protesters.  She of course is a former judge.

In my Campaign Notebook this week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty watches as Sen. John McCain embraces First Lady Mary Pawlenty. Potential first lady Cindy McCain also got a big hug from Pawlenty. Sources have long told me that the two couples hit it off quite some time ago. Could this be the future first and second couple? McCain praised Pawlenty again visiting Minnesota, but neither gave any indication that they're going to share a ticket.

The national and local press went wild with speculation about Jesse Ventura getting into the U.S. Senate race. Tuesday is the deadline for filing for office, you bet we'll all be there to see if Ventura shows. YouTube features ads real and fake ripping Coleman and Franken. Besides Jesse it was a pretty quiet week in the Senate race.

State lawmakers are ready to re-write their own rules. There's talk about cutting down on the long floor sessions by limiting the time of debate and/or eliminating the majority's ability to "call the question" and immediately end debate. Government reforming itself is never easy.

And the emails keep coming from blogger happy hour. Several bloggers refused to attend and have been telling me why.

It seems Gov. Pawlenty's national press buzz reached a new height in the past week. The London Times declaring "One candidate has risen to the top of John McCain's shortlist" is huge. There's also a new critical mass (often quoting each other) saying he's McCain's guy. As suspected, their appearance together last week created more fodder on the possible future GOP ticket.

Most of this recent round of press seems to conclude that Pawlenty hasn't been vetted by the national press and lacks the political machine most VP candidates possess. What surprises me the most is how much the out of towners like the Washington Post seem to make about his joke about his wife and his love life.

Maybe we're just used to governors joking about reincarnated as a DD bra, but the local press was pretty mild on this. I guess I've got to say, I thought it was funny. We're used to him joking about and gushing about his obviously adorable (and extremely smart) wife. He's often referred to her as his "red-hot smoking wife" and on the night of his last inaugural ball he upped it to his "blue-hot smoking wife" (watch the clip, it's priceless) when she had a particularly steamy blue dress on. Now I've been plenty tough on TPaw and he seems to be rather annoyed with me lately too, but I got to say I don't get the national press obsession with a joke that was pretty funny. For those of us who know Pawlenty, it wasn't out of character and his sense of humor is a quality that usually makes him better to work with.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty introduced John McCain here in St. Paul. Pawlenty said McCain has "valor, courage, patriotism" and he added that Minnesotans can appreciate that he is a "straight talker" and "populist." The often-mentioned candidate for running mate concluded his brief but solid introduction with saying McCain is "going to be a great president."

It took McCain 20 minutes to say anything about Pawlenty, but he launched right into taking Barack Obama to task for changing his position public financing. McCain said he was "disappointed" Obama "went back on his word." Gov. Pawlenty and the lovely First Lady Mary Pawlenty are seated in a prime location right behind McCain's podium in the middle of this town hall forum (she's in pink in the front row).

McCain said he was glad to have Pawlenty's support along with his beautiful wife, who McCain jokingly said was the brains of the operation. That got some laughs. A half hour into the event, McCain turned the mic back to Pawlenty and asked him about his ideas on healthcare costs. It was an easy and smooth break from the format. They looked like a comfortable team. That should continue to keep people talking about a McCain-Pawlenty ticket.

And one person actually went there; the final questioner asked what Pawlenty's chances are for VP. McCain artfully dodged it, saying what he's always said that Pawlenty is the future of the Republican party. McCain said he wouldn't speculate on veepstakes but again noted that Pawlenty "has a place in the future."