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Governor Tim’s AWOL and on the campaign trail
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 A growing number of persons living in Minnesota are subscribing to the thought “if an elected official has aspirations for higher office, he or she needs to resign from their current position before running for a higher one.”
I certainly support this line of thinking. And after hearing about Gov. Tim (I wanna be your next president and I didn’t raise taxes) Pawlenty’s latest junket to the Deep South with a $100,000 check in hand, my conviction has become that much stronger.
While state lawmakers are feverishly wrestling with a state budget deficit that is expected to balloon to more than $6 billion next year, Gov. Tim took the day off to improve his standing with Alabama and national Republicans.
Pawlenty was the keynote speaker at the Alabama Republican Party’s Red, White and Blue dinner held in Montgomery, Ala. on Feb. 5. He brought with him a $100,000 donation to the Alabama Republicans from Texas developer Bob Perry, a big-time Republican donor who helped the governor get re-elected in 2006.
Perry is one of the biggest GOP donors in the country, giving millions to political parties, independent organizations and candidates. In 2006, Perry gave $500,000 to an independent group that helped Pawlenty win re-election. That group, A Stronger America Minnesota, ran ads in the last few weeks of the campaign criticizing Pawlenty’s Democratic opponent Mike Hatch.
The fact that our governor hand delivered a large donation to the Alabama Republic Party has raised more than a few eyebrows. There’s nothing illegal about what Pawlenty did, but it is another example of how running for higher office can really screw up one’s priorities.
Since Gov. Tim announced last summer he would not be seeking a third term as the top executive in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, he has visited 19 states. And these weren’t sight-seeing trips. In every case he was attending or addressing a major state Republican function.
It appears however, our carpetbagging governor is just getting warmed up. Pawlenty is scheduled to visit Missouri, Nevada and Washington D.C. this month to give speeches to other Republican groups. As the run for the White House heats up, I’d be willing to bet the folks in St. Paul will be seeing less and less of Pawlenty.
Shouldn’t our governor be staying here in Minnesota trying to figure out ways of making compromises with all of our state’s legislators that might improve our impending budget shortfalls? Shouldn’t Gov. Tim be focusing all of his energies on improving things for the people of Minnesota? Shouldn’t Minnesotans, and not Republicans in Missouri, Nevada, Alabama, New Hampshire, Iowa, the District of Columbia and the other 16 states Pawlenty has been stroking for support, be his top priority?
I really think we should be, but obviously we’re not.
I guess when you set your sights on the White House, things change. There’s an old saying, “the end doesn’t always justify the means.” This certainly holds true for Gov. Tim.
We live in an interesting political world. On the national scene many Democrats running for House and Senate seats have been distancing themselves from President Obama. And in Minnesota, I’ve got a feeling the majority of Republicans running for legislative and state-wide positions won’t be begging for photo opts with Gov. Tim.
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