Tim Pawlenty has made no secret of his doe-eyed support of John McCain. Stumping for him around the country, and even bringing the unpopular news back home to MNGOP faithful (who aren’t necessarily wild over McCain for failing some litmus test or another.) His actions during the last session shows that he’s turning his baby face to Washington in hopes that McCain will take him on as a Vice Presidential candidate. But recently the Washington Post highlights, (and McCain’s calendar reinforces) that McCain is having trouble fundraising, so much trouble that he’s kind of stopped being a Senator, and is focusing more on his campaign for President. In the 174 roll call votes this year in the United States Senate, John McCain has missed 87, fifty percent! Senator Hillary Clinton has missed only 4 votes and Barack Obama 13. McCain is (like Pawlenty, from time to time) so focused on higher office that he has missed all 45 votes since April 15th .
But what’s most troubling in this, is John McCain’s anger at being confronted about his lackadaisical attendance record. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that McCain was parachuting in at the last minute in the immigration debate that is ripping the Republican party apart, and McCain responded “F&#% you!”. Grover Norquist head of the Americans Tax Reform, the national version of the Tax Payers League had this to say about McCain:
“You can have a temper and be angry. He has a history of personalizing disputes, when he’s mad at the NRA, he attacks Wayne LaPierre… . Every time we have an argument about policy, he gets personal.”
Why does Pawlenty turn a blind eye to McCain’s anger? Is it because he’s too busy batting those eyes at McCain in what seem to be increasingly vain hopes of being VP? To make matters worse, this isn’t new behavior for McCain who has a long record of outbursts and controversy. Which makes you have to wonder why is Tim Pawlenty hitching his cart to John McCain? McCain is out of step with the Republican faithful on immigration, torture, and campaign finance, does Tim Pawlenty support McCain on these issues and how far would he go to throw the Republican base overboard to get John McCain elected, if it meant he got to bring his hockey hair to the Naval Observatory.
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Sean,
Welcome to MNPublius. I’ve had my disagreements with Matt and Zack, but they have usually conducted themselves with some degree of decorum even when we’ve disagreed. But calling Sen. John McCain a “codger” is a new low for this site. McCain is a genuine war hero who sacrificed years of his life rotting away and being tortured in a POW camp in Vietnam. If you have a serious point to make, I’m all ears and would enjoy the exchange. If you’re going to just call names and trade insults, you’re not any better than the people who post “assassination ‘jokes’” on the Daily Kos or the Democrat underground.
The only people I know who care about Pawlenty stumping for McCain are DFL’rs and they won’t vote for him or McCain anyway. Pawlenty’s political career in this state will be determined much more by how people view his handling of things like the recent legislative session than who he supports for the GOP nomination.
Politicians spending their time campaigning is a sin both sides engage in equally. Just look at how the DFL took a couple extra hours for lunch to attend a fund-raiser and now complain about running out of time on the funding amendment for arts and the outdoors.
Chris — Thank you for welcoming me to the site.
A codger for those who don’t know is an “often mildly eccentric and usually elderly fellow.” (www.m-w.com)
That is quite the burner there. I mean I basically called him a traitor. I disparaged his service saying that he had been brainwashed in Vietnam, denounced his family, and accused him of having little black babies. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain#2000_presidential_primary)
Or something.
Wait — it wasn’t me who said those things it was a Republican operative.
I respect and cherish Senator McCain’s service. He is a patriot and a hero. But his service should not, and will not serve as a panacea covering up his temper, his actions and his largely contrived public image as he seeks public office.
I’m sure you can agree with that, because if somehow we all had to genuflect when a veteran walked by and refuse to address what they have said and done John Kerry would be our President right now.
And I’m sure you remember the actual insults and name calling levied against that veteran.
But, back to the topic at hand.
It is absurd, it is ridiculous that you would somehow compare he calling John McCain a codger to assassination jokes. It doesn’t even qualify as ‘reductio ad absurdum’ instead its just being obnoxious.
John McCain, who thought that saying that Janet Reno was Chelsea Clinton’s father was funny, who cosponsored a bill that increases the fines for saying things that he does (like “f&@# you!”) on television (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s109-193), calling him a codger is about as light hearted as it can get, especially when you count in all of the things that John McCain has said in anger to and about other people.
“…calling John McCain a codger is a new low for this site”
Jeez, hyperbolize much? Sean
Uh. What is the Republican “position” on torture, exactly that McCain isn’t in step with? I don’t remember seeing any items concerning torture in the Republican Platform.
“Article 12 Section H: Support for liberalizing torture. The more, the better. Make ‘em hurt bad!”
Well, to get back to Pawlenty and his ambitions, I think we may want to re-check our basic assumption.
I know that talk around the Capitol towards the end of session was about Pawlenty’s ‘higher ambitions’. This was even talked about quietly by a few Republicans.
Now personally, I don’t think McCain is dead yet - he’s still a crafty old political hand, Rudy will almost certainly implode, and Romney is looking a little… strange… at times.
But then again - look at the Republican field. The front runners are not unsullied from a republican, hyper-conservative base voter stand point. They have all had skirmishes with the theocratic wing of the party at times. Giuliani seems bent on continuing his all the way through the primaries.
And none of them are particularly charismatic. Rudy is so-so, Romney is a robot, and McCain has lost his maverick vibe, lost it in a big way.
So again look at Pawlenty. He knows how to communicate - yes, this is largely a question of telling people they can have their cake, eat it too, and be praised for not eating it after they’ve eaten it, but he makes people believe it. His credentials are obnoxiously, impeccably conservative. And he’s governor of what the GOP fancies a swing-state, in a region with some bona fide swing states. And a lot of Republican primary voters are distinctly un-enthused by their choice of front-runners. And he’s coming off of a session where he largely out-foxed a hostile majority. Depending how he spins it, he either held the evil liberals at bay… or displayed how he can govern with another party.
So maybe he was telling the truth when he said ‘for the 900th time I’m not running for Vice-President’. Maybe, just maybe, he thinks McCain can’t do it, and wants to play for all the marbles.
Kerosene Hat hit it on the head - great response in that first paragraph.
Next topic.