Tim Pawlenty’s bailout problem, and the prospects of the Republicans in 2012
As we head into the 2012 election cycle it would seem to me that the Republicans have one very large problem that needs to be addressed if they have any hope of beating Barack Obama. The Republicans need to nominate a good, solid conservative candidate with no baggage, but as of yet it doesn’t appear as if there is a great candidate out there–certainly nobody with the name recognition which will be needed if Barack Obama is to be a one-termer.
A name that has been bandied about is the former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, and make no mistake about it–he is running for president. Being from the state with the first in the nation primary I can tell you that those who are almost obsessively interested in politics–as I am–watch potential candidates very closely to see whether of not they seem to be paying special attention to New Hampshire all of a sudden, and Tim Pawlenty has made it a habit to visit New Hampshire (five times to be exact, while visiting Iowa seven times), so everything points towards a Tim Pawlenty run at the White House.
But Tim Pawlenty has one problem–and in my opinion it could be a big one–he stumped for John McCain in 2008 and appeared to support the bailout bill. When confronted on this issue by Chris Wallace, Tim Pawlenty tried to back pedal, claiming that he was speaking on behalf of the Republican presidential candidate and that he himself did not actually support the bailout bill:
Play the tape. It says ‘he believes’ and I was speaking as a spokesperson for Senator McCain,” the former Minnesota governor said on “Fox News Sunday” after host Chris Wallace played video of Pawlenty endorsing what was billed as a bailout for both the mortgage industry and “Main Street.””But I didn’t support -don’t support – bailing out places like Wall Street, General Motors and the like with respect to the federal role of government
Chris Wallace then asked the follow up question that any responsible journalist would ask: “When you were defending that back in 2008, you didn’t believe it?” To which Tim Pawlenty said:
“I don’t think the government should bail out Wall Street or the mortgage industry or for that matter any other industry”
I agree with that 100%, but the fact is that in 2008 Tim Pawlenty did in fact come to the defense of the bailout bill, and there are only two suppositions that can be made from this FACT: Either Tim Pawlenty did in fact support the bailout bill and is now trying to backtrack, of he didn’t support the bailout but was willing to compromise his beliefs in the heat of a political campaign. Neither option is acceptable to me.
Let us take the former governor at his word and assume that he really was against the bailout bill while he was helping John McCain promote the bailout bill. Do we really want somebody running for president in 2012 who will tout the virtues of a program that he does not believe in simply because he believes it is politically advantageous? If he was willing to do this on the bailout bill while supporting another candidate, can we really trust him to tell us where he stands on an issue when he is running for president himself? Or will we have to vote for him hoping that he actually said what he meant during the campaign?
We are going to have to wait and see, but this could turn into a major problem for Tim Pawlenty with the Tea Party and if it does I feel this will render him unelectable. But this speaks to a larger problem that I foresee within the Republican party.
As of right now I just don’t see any viable contender who can take on Barack Obama and beat him. I know that it is still early and much can change, but I liken this to what I just witnessed here in New Hampshire. New Hampshire voters were vehemently opposed to the direction the nation and the state had taken. This led to huge historic Republican gains in all branches of the state government–as well as sending three Republicans to Washington DC–but the Republicans in New Hampshire could not find a viable candidate to take on the governor. So while the Republicans made these remarkable gains they were not able to take out the head of the party. But Governor John Lynch has been rendered a GINO (governor in name only) because the state legislature holds veto-proof majorities.
This is what I am beginning to think is a best case scenario on a national level as well–I am beginning to feel that there is no way to stop the re-election of Barack Obama, simply because there is no Republican candidate out there who will be able to steal the spotlight from him, not matter how unpopular he becomes. But there is the chance that–like New Hampshire–we can render Barack Obama a PINO (president in name only) by gaining a super majority in the House and the Senate. I hope I am wrong, but this may be our only chance at stopping Barack Obama.
America's Watchtower 
This guy was also a guest speaker for Jeb Bush’s “Hispanic outreach” scheme. It sounds like he’ll blow wherever the favorable political winds will take him. This guy sounds like the same old jalopy with a new coat of paint.
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That is what I am beginning to think also!
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Here is the only problem I see in defeating Obama – that conservatives get so stuck on having the absolute perfect candidate that we ruin any chance of actually contending in 2012. The libs do not have this problem because they have no ethical standards, so lies and deceit are part and parcel to their candidates. We need to wake up a little, no man is perfect, and this holds doubly true for politicians.
In my opinion, as long as we don’t get some weak kneed bastard who cares what the NY Times writes about him for our candidate, but a true conservative, then he will stomp Obama in 2012. Write now we can afford to nitpick and speculate, but assuming we get someone who is not McCain for candidate, the right will rally behind him.
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Sara Palin – see below
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Good points! The right is going to rally around whoever the nominee is regardless of what is written against him/her, and our candidate must have a thick skin and not care about what is being written. We need a person who will stand up and say what he believes not what we want to hear.
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I’m not a Pawlenty fan either. But Steve, what do you think of Chris Christy, Paul Ryan, Jim DeMint or Herman Cain? Surely we can find a winner in that group or don’t you think so. I really would value your opinion.
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LOVE DeMint but we need him where he is. Chris Christy = Victory Mosque and Obamacare are AOK, and taking shots at Palin when conservatives are under attack for the Tuscan Tragedy = RINO.
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and oh yea, CAIN is awesome. A Cain/West ticket would rock.
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Cain and West. now that would be an unbeatable combo!
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I am beginning to hear people question Christy, but I wonder if he is thinking of running in the first place.
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As I said before, I didn’t know much about Cain until I saw his name here but he certainly sounds good. A Cain/West ticket would be intriguing indeed!
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I have to be honest, I didn’t know who Herman Cain was but I did a little looking around and this guy looks really interesting! As for the others, I do like them but I just fear they don’t have a chance in the primary; I am afraid the frontrunners will be Palin, Romney, and Huckabee and I don’t think any of these candidates can beat Barack Obama.
If the Tea Party is big enough at that time perhaps there is a chance for a DeMint or a Christie, in the end I think it all revolves around the Tea Party.
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“Obama a PINO (president in name only)”……I just loved this new creation……….well done Steve.
I know you have issues with Sarah Palin, but she needs to be reconsidered. Just WHY is the left fighting her so hard so early and trying to destroy her so soon? Another one to consider is John Bolton. Just my thoughts.
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John Bolton is at the top of my list.
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John Bolton would be an interesting choice.
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I actually do like her and I believe that she is a true conservative but my problem is that she just doesn’t come off as being presidential, I think she would be better served as a fundraiser of head of the RNC, she sure can get the money coming in!
The left is afraid of her and they have been from the beginning, and they must feel she has a shot or they wouldn’t be trying to bring her down this way. I have to admit that I find it funny the way she gets under their skin.
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Me Too (grin)
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I, personally don’t think that Obama is not beatable. I feel that Sarah Palin along with the right male candidate could do it. If Bobby Jindal was running, I think he could easily defeat Obama.
I think it is true that Republicans tend to look for a perfect candidate, thus, a viable candidate.
There is no such thing. I think what I will be doing is looking for a candidate that walks the talk and that has the backbone to take on the elite in this country and say enough is enough.
I have to be honest that I also think Obama can be defeated because he has lost all credibility with most sections of America. The only one he seems to be hanging on to are women (which is beyond me. Are women really that dense?)
What concerns me more is that I think we are going to see a major ratcheting up of the kind of vitriol against conservative/anti-obama worldview candidates that we witnessed in AZ after the shooting. I think that will get so loud as to shut out any discourse or objections.
I also think that we will see for the first time the use of violence from those on the left against those on the right. I hope I am wrong, but my gut tells me this will not be a quiet and peaceful event.
Therefore, the consevative candidate that comes forward has to be able to deal with that and somehow rise above it and grab hold of the people.
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I think the reason that I feel he will be tough to beat is because we don’t seem to have a candidate with big time name recognition, but I keep forgetting that nobody knew who Barack Obama was at this point in the last campaign and everyone thought the nomination would easlily be going to Hillary.
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I will have to chime in with Steve’s opinion on this one. I think Barack Obama will be extremely difficult to defeat in 2012, if we do not choose the right candidate. Who that candidate is, I have no idea at the moment. I do like John Bolton on the surface, but would like to know and understand how he stands on the social issues. We need to careful to choose the right candidate, but we should also be very careful in choosing said candidate.
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Bolton is a big personal responsibility small government constitution guy. He was a Goldwater teenager, which could be a negative as far as mudslinging is concerned because they can paint him a racist, but his record easily defeats that.
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Bolton has several books out, and I have them ordered. His stand on conservative issues are excellent so far. He is quality, and has the foreign service record so lacking by Comrade “O”.
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I am going to have to check out some of his writing.
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We saw what happened in 2008 when we didn’t choose a conservative candidate and we cannot afford to make that mistake again.
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I am a firm believer that whomever gets the nod to run against BO will not be known to the press today. It is not advantageous to be the early front runner… you get slapped down and people grow tired of you. I just hope whomever it is can be a truly “fresh” voice not a recycled Republican who tried, and failed, before.
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That is a very good point, you don’t want to peak too early as they say. People will tire of you, this may be part of what happened to Mitt Romney last time around.
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Sarah Palin is viewed much as Reagan was before he gained the credibility thru the office of POTUS. Palin is being attacked by both the right and left, and the media, but then I repeat myself, and just look how she endures and comes out ahead. The reason is that she poses a threat to every faction that vies for the big house, including the Bushes laying groundwork for Jeb.
More significant however is who, WHO out there of the possible contenders is out there fighting for us right now, on every level? No one but Palin and she represents the most purest of dedicated to America exceptionalism, family values, and our constitution. Polarizing – you betcha, and let’s polarize the course we are currently on right into oblivian. Palin does not stand down to all this insanity. We need exactly her, (or Cain or West, but if you base it on visibility or threat to the left, Palin is heads above the rest)
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Good point! The left certainly is scared to death of her that is why they have tried to bring her down. And you make a great point about hos she just keeps pushing forward no matter what they say about her. She certainly isn’t going to back down from the left.
West is another guy that looks pretty good.
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The Left tells us who they fear by who they attack the most. They would love it if we ran Romney, or another lightweight, and in the primary will get behind our weakest option, but the uninformed will take at that as our most viable choice. Worthy of a read:
“[S]he’s got balls in places her would-be opponents don’t even know they have places.”
http://michellemalkin.com/2011/01/17/shut-me-up/
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I will check out that link, thank you. The media also has a way of dictating to the Republican voters who they support. They spoke glowingly of McCain in order to promote him for the nomination, but quickly turned on him to promote their true hero–Barack Obama. We cannot be fooled by this again, if the media talks well of a Republican candidate we must steer clear of that candidate for he is a Trojan Horse.
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http://bigjournalism.com/mikemetroulas/2011/01/19/is-palin-done-they-wish/
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My concern is Pence. In my mind, way too Conservative. So far, we have stayed off the Social issues. If we get into them, the Independents will drift away I would not be surprised if the MSM will start beating the drum for him. They will try and manipulate and focus on someone who will be devisive. Mark my words. I would prefer a Governenor who has had some experience. Is it still possible to elect a dark horse at a Convention?
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The Republicans have gotten themselves into trouble by not running true conservatives so we need to make sure we run a true conservative this time. However I agree that we might need someone with more experience, I just don’t see a congressman being able to make that leap to the presidency.
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Who the heck is Cain or Pence? I know Allen West, and even donated to his campaign…………..and I respect him greatly……..but those other two……….I have no clue who they are.
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Mike Pence is a solid conservative congressman from Indiana, and I had not heard of Cain until he was mentioned in a comment above, but he seems very interesting.
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To the Cloud………..
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We’ll, if it is a tossup between Huckabee and Pence, I’ll go with Pence. I call Huckabee (and directly to him as well), The Huckster. I have no respect for him at all, and watched what he did to Arkansas shortly after I left that state after 21 or more years living there. He would be a classic RINO in all aspects, and actually think he is a closet democrat. Pence doesn’t have enough information out there on him, some self published pieces, so I’ll look for him where I go, but my call for now is Palin and West. West I really respect, and Palin has been on the front lines in full combat, and has earned her medals. She’s slick, but a lot of women are afraid of her, and I don’t understand why as I’m a male? LOL…………….if some women readers can help me for understanding, I’d appreciate it.
Jon
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First of all, I do not believe Mike Huckabee is going to run for president in 2012. I have no insider knowledge of that, it’s just a feeling that I have, that he is more than comfortable doing what he is doing now. I do not know if I would support him if he did, depending on who was running, but I did support him in 2008 and I do not regret that decision.
As I read your comment, I wanted to ask you this question, Jon. What exactly did Mike Huckabee do to the state of Arkansas? I live in Oklahoma and have worked in Arkansas all of my life and from where I stand, he did nothing but good for the state. He had one of the biggest messes to clean up, after years of Bill Clinton and Jim Guy Tucker, but he got a good start. Yes, he did raise taxes, but the citizens of the state voted 80% in favor of the tax increase to fix the worst road system in the country. He also raised taxes for the school system, but he was instructed to fix the funding disparities by the state Supreme Court. He had no choice in the matter.
I am no fool and I know Huckabee is not perfect, but the title of Huckster is undeserved, I feel.
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There was a standing joke that once you got to Arkansas, you could never leave. I was on the Ouachita County Democratic Central Committee, at that time before I resigned my position, due to Jeanne Kirpatrick’s speech before the UN, and Walter Mondale running for President. Ronald Reagan came on the scene, I became a full fledged Republican, and saw that from the Jack Kennedy days, to Reagan, I was on the wrong side of the fence.
Clinton did do well for Arkansas, even the back roads werre paved, but when I moved down to Arkansas from Chicago, the cost of living in Arkansas was the same as Chicago, the rent near the same, but the payroll was only a third of what was made in Chicago………a massive change. Clinton lied to Arkansas, many men died there, and Clinton ran for President after telling Arkansas he was not going to run, to make him Governor………while Hillary ran a stealth campaign for health care, and when a reporter for the newspaper asked Hillary what would happen if people didn’t carry their “health care card,’ was told “they would be Arrested”. I escaped Arkansas while he just became Governor again, and left it all behind. Meanwhile Huckabee raised substantially taxes on an already low income state, and made things worse. He supported all the democratic initiaves even though he claimed the title “Republican.” I watch him now, looking at how he carries himself on Fox, etc, and he is nothing more to me then a show biz huckster, telling everyone what they wanted to hear, but he has his own agenda. He’ll do everything and say anything to get others to like him, and to me, he is a pure bred politician.
You and I may disagree on how we view him, but that is my own perspective as I find him deceptive, and not worth support at all, especially for President. He does need to play his guitar, and sing, and work in a support capacitity, not in leadership.
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