Tim Pawlenty is toast; finished; out of the race. Never having been the former Minnesota governor's biggest fan, I ought to be breathing a sigh of relief... I'm not. While part of me is comforted to know Mr. Pawlenty won't be president, I'm disturbed by the political reality that fell him. It was Tea killed the best.
For years Pawlenty positioned himself as a new kind of Republican. A Wal-Mart Republican. Blue collar. Moderate. He was the perfect fit for John McCain in 2008. When Pawlenty was passed over in favor of little-known Alaska governor Sarah Palin, his fate was sealed. It wasn't the embarrassment of being second-pick on the playground, or the missed opportunity to raise his national profile that did Pawlenty in. It was this: Barack Obama is friends with terrorists.
Wild assertions like that started flying from McCain's running mate, and eventually from McCain himself. I don't doubt Pawlenty would have pulled any punches either, had he been on the ticket. But left out, the party began to drift away from him. Palin's rhetoric revitalized the vitriol one used to expect from the GOP base. Hers were arguably the first of the Tea Party rallies.
Before Palin, Republicans were apologetic about Bush and not just Democrats were excited about Obama. After Palin, the Tea Party quelled the wave of niceness that looked, for a second, like it might creep its way into politics. No more Mr. Nice Guy means no more Mr. Pawlenty (not that I think T-Paw is a nice guy, but it's a role he plays).
Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, Tea Party favorites both, now lead the pack of presidential hopefuls. The Tea Party was Pawlenty's bane, but they didn't act alone. Pawlenty has himself to blame, too. Always a politician, Pawlenty triangulated and obfuscated and followed the winds of change for years. He never led. Now he never will.
Probably.
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