[The Pack Knight]

I don't know. It sure doesn't seem like he has any fire in the belly, no passion whatsoever. I don't know if you have to mirror Obama's charisma, but you have to have at least some charisma, to be believable. Pawlenty has none.

Personally, I think we could use a President without passion or "fire in the belly". I think our Republic desperately needs to move away from the mystique and personality cult of the plebiscitary Presidency.

That said, I agree with you that it is probably not a good formula for beating Obama, and beating Obama is the most important thing right now. While I think the voters would appreciate more sober leadership than that offered by Obama, they probably aren't going to go for someone like Pawlenty who has all the flash and sizzle of a UPS truck.

[OldDeckHand]

"While I think the voters would appreciate more sober leadership than that offered by Obama, they probably aren't going to go for someone like Pawlenty who has all the flash and sizzle of a UPS truck."

Yeah, you've got to be at least engaging and nominally compelling. Pawlenty seems to be the guy who's most likely to run the Fred Thompson-like campaign of 2012. Fred would have made a great President, but his campaign was flat and uninspired. That's the kind of campaign I'd expect to see from Pawlenty, and perhaps from Daniels as well.

Personally, I'm a big Bob McDonnell fan. It's just a shame he didn't run for VA governor when Kaine did, instead of four years later. Bob's a earnest and sober guy, but he has just enough charisma to be engaging - kind of like Jim DeMint.

[editor-surveyor]

"Personally, I think we could use a President without passion or 'fire in the belly'"

Didn't Jesus say something like that...

Rev 3:16 "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

Or was it the opposite?