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Pawlenty responds to Dayton

Posted at 3:54 PM on February 9, 2009 by Tim Pugmire (9 Comments)

During an interview this afternoon on WCCO Radio, Gov. Tim Pawlenty was asked about former U.S. Senator Mark Dayton, who earlier in the day had called on the governor to reimburse taxpayers for a weekend trip to Germany. Pawlenty attended the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy. Here's what the governor had to say on the radio:

"Of course Mark's running for governor, so you've got to put it in context.
But he probably didn't know, and if he would have called we would have told him, that the trip didn't cost the taxpayers anything out of pocket, in the sense that there's a military plane that went to Germany that carried the delegation to the security conference. It was going any how, so there was no additional cost of me taking a spot on that plane, as I did last year.

And when you're the commander in chief of the Minnesota National Guard, and you're going to deploy soldiers -- like we are tomorrow night at the St. Paul civic center, a thousand soldiers going off to Iran (Editor Note: Pawlenty said Iran on the air. His spokesman said he misspoke and corrected himself on the air later) and a month from now another thousand going to the middle east to fight in the war -- it helps to have an understanding of those issues, the dynamics, the security issues. And I get asked about it in my role as governor by families, by reporters and the like. So, there is value in doing it."

A word of clarification from the governor's spokesman:

Tim -
Just a note that the Governor made a misstatement in the part of the radio interview you posted on Polinaut.
He meant to say "Iraq" when he said "Iran."

We're going to make that correction on the air in a few minutes.

Thanks,

Brian McClung
Director of Communications
Office of Governor Tim Pawlenty

Comments (9)

Are we sending national guard troops to Iran? That's a bold move for the commander in chief of the Minnesota National Guard. I have no doubt this is a typo. But if not, fake it 'til you make it, right Tim?

Posted by Andrew | February 9, 2009 4:16 PM

So if any of us wanted to hitch a ride to Europe, I guess we should just be allowed to tag along whenever there's an empty seat on a military transport because it doesn't cost the taxpayers a nickle? When is the media going to examine exactly what the governor's role is with regard to being "commander-in-chief" of the Guard? It's mostly ceremonial. What a fraud this governor is.

Posted by George Hayduke | February 9, 2009 4:19 PM

Just read the byline. I was addressing Pawlenty, no Pugmire.

Posted by Andrew | February 9, 2009 4:21 PM

I fixed the typo.

Posted by tom scheck | February 9, 2009 5:23 PM

Aw come'on Tim, you are just burnishing your "international
image so when you run for President you can look like a
big guy. Just like your budget- so what if you screw children
widows and elderly out of health care, Grover Norquist will support you because you drink the no tax kool-aid. Pawlenty is a modern leader, he doesn't lead, he positions himself for further advancement. Just fess up to it.

Posted by Robert Gauthier | February 9, 2009 5:31 PM

NOTE: I fixed Tim's entry thinking he misspelled Iraq. Apparently, Pawlenty did, in fact, say Iran when discussing the troops. His spokesman said he later fixed the mistake on the air.

Posted by Tom Scheck | February 9, 2009 9:08 PM

I can see Canada from my House.

Posted by Sarah Palin | February 10, 2009 11:19 AM

'Cause like I been to, y'know, Paris, Peru, y'know, I mean, uh, Iraq, Iran, Eurasia... y'know I speak very, very, um fluent Spanish -- 'Todo 'sta bien, chévere' -- you got that?

Posted by stevie wonder | February 10, 2009 11:54 AM

Pawlenty wants State employees to take a pay freeze, and bans out-of-state travel for State employees. He needs to play by the same rules, and the media needs to start calling him on it whenever he makes these political trips in the future.

Posted by Brent | February 11, 2009 6:07 AM

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