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.

 

Leading my Campaign Notebook this week, veepstakes speculation reaches a new height for Gov. Tim Pawlenty just as he holds a local press event for John McCain. The topic was energy, but there were only a couple of obligatory questions about that. Of course what everybody wanted to know was what's up with his seeking (or not) a new job?
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The national and local buzz is huge that Pawlenty will be McCain's running mate. A new Quinnipiac poll helps that thought, it shows McCain essentially chopping down Obama's once double digit lead in Minnesota.  The 46-44 lead for Obama now compares to 54-37 back in June.
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As rumors swirl about McCain announcing his veep pick, Gov. Tim Pawlenty says "I've stopped engaging in all this vice presidential discussion." He made the statement apparently from McCain campaign headquarters on a live appearance on FOX. He repeatedly refused to talk about his place in the veepstakes, but told the interviewer it was "nice to ask."
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Looking back at the week in politics, the U.S. Senate race was the story. From Jesse Ventura's announcement with Larry King on CNN that he wasn't running to 7 Independence Party members jumping in from former U.S. Senator Dean Barkley and former IP Chair Jack Uldrich. Getting less press is the fact there are also 7 DFLers in this race, most notably Priscilla Lord Faris who is challenging Al Franken. It was a madhouse outside the secretary of state's office for candidate filing.
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