Pawlenty impresses Iowans on substance; Group backtracks on Huckabee commitment

TheIowaRepublican.com ^ | 2/8/2012 | Kevin Hall

[bigred08]

Tim Pawlenty said all the right things during the inaugural “Presidential Lecture Series” event sponsored by The FAMiLY Leader. A crowd of 150 attendees, plus a dozen media members, gathered at Pella Christian High School early Monday afternoon to listen to the former Minnesota governor. The crowd liked what they heard, but was not blown away by Pawlenty’s delivery.

If elections were won only on substance, Pawlenty would stand a strong chance in the 2012 Iowa Caucus. However, style matters too. Oratorical skills propelled Barack Obama to the White House in 2008. Pawlenty will need to become a more passionate speaker as the campaign moves forward. He possesses an everyman quality that could endear him to caucus goers, but lacks the soaring rhetoric of Obama, folksy humor of Mike Huckabee, and fiery charisma of Chris Christie.

[Huck]

only Romney and Huckabee are completely off the table.

They'll probably be first and second place. They were second and third last time.

[editor-surveyor]

In the 1952 election, Nixon was an obvious stalking horse for Eisenhower.

He worked actively to destroy Macarthur, who was the ‘Reagan,’ or ‘Palin,’ of that election, and was rewarded with the vice presidency.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

A lot of states swooned over Obama before they knew better.
Don’t forget he was the black Jesus and waved his arm and promised to calm the seas and the raising tide. Like Hitler, many fell for him including independents. Obama has lost all of his satanic magic he only has 22% at most.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

The media want Romney. I want West.

A poll of Iowa showed they want an outsider.
West/Cain

[GeronL]

didn’t this guy get on TV and distance himself from Palin’s crosshairs, thereby extending the narrative?

[Mariner]

Is Pawlenty a Social Conservative...or any special type of Conservative?

I JUST HAVEN'T HEARD MUCH ABOUT HIS POSITIONS ON THE ISSUES.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

Americans Think Obama Would Lose In 2012

[Sybeck1]

Pawlenty, Doyle and other Midwest governors sign on to global warming pact

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/11/15/govsgreenhouse/

4 years ago he was all over Gobull Warming.

[TLI]

They'll probably be first and second place. They were second and third last time.

Wait to see George Stephanopoulos telling everyone "xxxx xxxxxxx" is doing really great and coming up in the polls...

That will be the MSM Overlords pick for designated Republican loser to "The Øne" and hundreds of millions worth of propaganda, face time interviews and softball games will be tossed their way.

.

[Huck]

I don’t watch TV, so I won’t see Stephanopoulos do anything.

[dools0007world]

Ping and double ping. Any state GOP, or other party with a vested interest in the conservative or GOP candidate for president, that commits to a candidate this far out is just plain stupid.

However, it is never too soon to begin ruling out candidates who’ve a history of RINO/demrat positions. That includes Pawlenty and Romney.

I suspect its also these follows who’re generating polls or statements that favor them. IMHO, the heavyweights (Palin, for one) have been coy about running. The reason I like Palin is that she is the only potential candidtate who has been taking on Onada and his policies in a meaningful way. Seems like a lot of other pretenders are waiting to see which way the wind is blowing.

It is important that conservatives support the candidate with genuine conservative core beliefs—and who has demonstrated through deeds they are sincere in those beliefs.

[Rennes Templar]

West/Cain

Who is West?

[ExSoldier]

What about the DARK Dark Horses? The new Governor of Virginia? Or THE DONALD has been floating his name around and he actually has said some stuff that I would support. John Bolton, too.

[Robbin]

Are we going to start the stalking horse stuff again this cycle. Pawlenty has been running for a year. After the guy Huck pardoned killed 4 cops, I never thought he would run again. Why would Pawlenty enter the race a year ago to try to damage Huck’s chances. Huck’s done all the damage himself. He doesn’t need a stalking horse.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I won’t vote for a man that turns his back on the call to preach and save souls, to barter for votes...

[Notary Sojac]

MacArthur was never a serious candidate for President. And a good thing, too.

[The Pack Knight]

I am far from sold on Pawlenty, but as someone who would like to see some other, more serious alternatives crack Romney, Palin, and Huckabee’s chokehold on the top tier of the Republican Presidential field, I am hoping to see Pawlenty and others gain some traction in Iowa.

Unfortunately, after reading the article, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence that Pawlenty really “impressed” Iowa Republicans, as suggested by the headline of this thread - which, by the way, is different from the headline of the source article. That is unfortunate, because “substance” is something we desperately need from our eventual nominee, and given their disproportionate role as Presidential kingmakers, I’m hoping Iowans respond to substance.

[bigred08]

Umm...then maybe you should read the article.

[bigred08]

Umm...then maybe you should read the article.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

You tube google Lt Col Allen West

[The Pack Knight]

What about the DARK Dark Horses? The new Governor of Virginia? Or THE DONALD has been floating his name around and he actually has said some stuff that I would support. John Bolton, too.

I'm liking Bob McDonnell, though I think it's a tad early in his career for him to run for President. Of course, as we get further into the campaign season, a lot of those "too early" candidates are starting to look better than the candidates whose "turn" it is. I think I'd be open to supporting him if he decides to run, especially if the only other choices are the "top tier" as it stands today.

I really like Bolton, and think it's about time we had a President who "gets it" on foreign policy. I am concerned by the fact that he has no real political or executive experience - Condi Rice's tenure as Secretary of State should serve as a warning that deep knowledge of foreign policy issues does not necessarily translate into leadership abilities. He has also made some recent comments on "Don't Ask Don't Tell" and gay marriage that will turn off a lot of conservatives.

Trump has said a lot of things a like and some things I don't, but he has a blunt, common sense way of expressing himself that I think a lot of people would find appealing in a Presidential candidate. That could help his candidacy pass the initial "laugh test" - which i think is a serious obstacle in his case. He does have some similar issues to Bolton in that some of his professed stances (in Trump's case, on abortion and gun control) will turn off a lot of conservatives.

On the whole, all three of those candidates have problems. However, I'm not sure we would have been better off starting with Trump, Bolton, and McDonnell as our "top 3" instead of Romney, Palin, and Huckabee.