Polinaut: August 24, 2008 Archive

CW: Biden pick hurts Pawlenty's chances

Posted at 8:36 AM on August 24, 2008 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)

As Gov. Pawlenty campaigns in two critical swing states, the conventional wisdom is that Barack Obama's pick of Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate may thwart Pawlenty's chances to become John McCain's running mate. Even before the pick was announced, GOP consultant (and former McCain spokesman) said Biden will hurt Pawlenty.

His selection will probably finish off Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty's chances to be Mr. McCain's vice presidential nominee, since it's unlikely that Mr. McCain would send the relatively inexperienced Governor Pawlenty into a debate with Mr. Biden.

Politico's Mike Allen also wrote this about Pawlenty's chances.

The officials say Sen. Barack Obama's choice of Sen. Joe Biden finished off any remaining chance for youthful Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to be on the GOP ticket. "Can you imagine what Biden would do to Pawlenty in the debate?" asked one top Republican.

"It would just be sad."

The L.A. Times says McCain may be forced to pick someone else.

Had Obama tapped a less experienced Democrat, such as Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, McCain might have been more likely to go with a fresh GOP face such as Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. But some Republicans said privately that they were worried Biden might too easily dominate the vice presidential debate set for October and hoped McCain would opt for a steadier hand, such as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney or former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge.

Then again, neither Romney, who has backed abortion rights in the past, nor Ridge, who supports them now, has been embraced by the GOP's social conservative base.

The Hotline pondered whether it helps Romney's chances but said Pawlenty's roots could help him.

Where Romney would help McCain most, of course, is to help fill in the gaps for McCain on the economy. Who better to understand the details of the national economy than a successful businessman? In the wake of McCain's recent stumble over how many homes he actually owns, there's been some rumblings that Romney's wealth will be a drawback. Minutes after McCain's comments were published Democrats pounced on them in statements and, in Obama's case, with a TV ad. They'd have a field day profiling the two as the "elitist" ticket.

This would argue for Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty who comes from humbler roots ( he was the first in his family to graduate from college, for example) and can talk about his executive experience handling Minnesota's budget.

But who'd match up best against Biden, especially in a debate? Romney proved to be a solid debater during the primaries and is an accomplished attack dog. Pawlenty, meanwhile, has been on the national stage only as a peripheral player. His debut at a recent National Press Club outing got middling reviews.

For his part, Pawlenty criticized Obama for choosing someone with what greater foreign policy experience during stops here and here in PA.

He did, however, address Sen. Barack Obama's decision to choose Delaware Sen. Joe Biden as a running mate, telling a crowd of about 80 McCain supporters at the Westgate Mall, ''the commander-in-chief shouldn't have to get a mentor.''

Pawlenty called Obama for being ''a great orator when using a teleprompter,'' but said McCain's political and military experience is needed as president, which drew applause in the storefront dubbed ''Victory Headquarters.''

Pawlenty criticized Obama for saying at an April fundraiser in San Francisco that small-town Pennsylvanians are ''bitter'' and cling to guns and religion.

''It should concern you. John McCain doesn't think like that,'' he said.

Question of the day: What do you think this does to Pawlenty's chances?

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Pawlenty pushes back on Biden talk

Posted at 11:42 AM on August 24, 2008 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)

We posted earlier that some now have doubts about Gov. Pawlenty being on the ticket with John McCain. Pawlenty pushed back during his appearance on CNN this morning. He said:

Calling Biden "long-winded," Pawlenty told host Wolf Blitzer, "I think any of the people that Senator McCain is thinking about for vice president will be more than able to hold their own against Senator Biden."

Pawlenty also declined to talk about his chances of being VP.

He also addressed the abortion issue during an interview with the Allentown Morning Call. He was asked whether former PA Gov. Tom Ridge's pro-choice stance could hurt him in the Veepstakes.

• Q: Gov. Tom Ridge, another governor whose name has been thrown about, remarked recently that the Republican electorate could accept a pro-choice vice president. What do you think....


• A: I think any presidential candidate is going to look at any number of things when they pick their vice presidential running mate. The person has to be ready to be president of the United States. And as John McCain said, his administration is going to reflect his values and principals and priorities and that would include the vice president and anybody who serves in the cabinet and any senior leaders and John McCain has been committed to the pro life cause in an unwavering consistent way for his whole career. I think Tom Ridge has also said and this is an important part that whoever the vice president is would support the policies of the president.


• Q: Is that a yes you agree with Ridge, or a no?


• A: The way I look at it, Sen. McCain has said his administration including the senior leaders of the administration would share and reflect his priorities and values for the country. If you want any more on that you would have to ask Sen. McCain.

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Big protest ties up downtown Denver

Posted at 4:16 PM on August 24, 2008 by Mike Mulcahy
Filed under: President

Several hundred demonstrators marched through downtown Denver Sunday. Many were protesting thre war in Iraq and any potential war the U.S. might fight against Iran. Update: The Denver Post is now reporting more than a thousand took part in the protest and that there were no arrests.

Police had closed off some streets, and traffic was congested. There were dozens of police officers watching the parade. Some were on bikes. Others were wearing riot gear.

"The odd part is that it's our Democrats, our left, who spend $50 million to secure themselves from independent thought," said Todd German, a protester from New Orleans.

Access to the Pepsi Center was blocked for a time. Because the Democratic National Convention doesn't start until Monday, that was mostly an inconvenience for journalists and others trying to get in to set things up ahead of time.

Despite the number of protestors and police the march seemed generally orderly. I was able to cut through the march to cross the street with no problem.

I bumped into St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman this morning, who said he was planning to meet with Denver law enforcement officials today to talk about their experience with the protest. His city may have to deal with a larger march next week as the Republican National Convention comes to town.

As the protest broke up Seattle resident Doug Skove let the air out of his inflatable earth. Curtis Gilbert snapped this photo but neglected to ask whether Skove planned to pack it up and take it to St. Paul. Or whether you can check an inflatable globe with your regular luggage.

Hello from Denver!

Posted at 6:59 PM on August 24, 2008 by Tom Scheck

Several protesters shut down the LRT and bus lines in downtown Denver for about thirty minutes this afternoon. How do I know? Well, I was waiting to get on the LRT and saw several dozen cops marching up the road. So I followed them and found out why my wait at the transit stop was so long. This was the first kerfuffle (skirmish would be too harsh a word) between Denver's finest and the protesters.

The cops asked the protesters to move. They didn't and then they did. Dozens of police in full riot gear were ready to roll when the incident started. The police eventually got the protesters, the onlookers and the media to stay on the sidewalks. The only disruption came from this one protester who rode her bike around the police barricades.