Capitol View: February 20, 2010 Archive

McClatchy: Pawlenty teleprompter statement wrong

Posted at 10:32 AM on February 20, 2010 by Tom Scheck
Filed under: Pawlenty travel, Tim Pawlenty

Yesterday, Gov. Pawlenty criticized President Obama for needing a teleprompter to talk to grade school children (you can listen to Pawlenty's full CPAC speech here):

"President Obama was in a grade school classroom speaking to elementary school children and he was using a teleprompter,"

"That's not a joke. That's a real story." (listen to full speech here)

But McClatchy is reporting that Pawlenty's statement is, in fact, false (and have video to prove it):

The tale spread by bloggers over the Internet and in some media, including the Comedy Channel's Jon Stewart, blended together two Obama appearances Jan. 19 at the Graham Road Elementary School in Falls Church, Virginia, to make it appear he used the teleprompter when speaking to a classroom of 30 pupils.

In reality, Obama sat on a chair and spoke with the pupils without the device.

In a different classroom, he used the teleprompter to give scripted remarks on education to television cameras.

Why do these types of fact-checks matter? AP says it can sour people to public policy.

Side note: Pawlenty is scheduled to appear on Meet the Press tomorrow morning.

Here's what the show says about his appearance:

One year after Pres. Obama signed the stimulus bill, when will the U.S economy finally turn around? What more needs to be done to get Americans back to work? And as Conservatives meet this weekend in Washington, what is the future direction of the Republican party and who will emerge as its leader? Plus, as Republicans hope to see strong gains in this year's midterm elections, what does the GOP need to do to convince voters they are ready to take back control of Congress? We'll have an exclusive conversation with an often-mentioned potential 2012 Presidential contender, Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.

Ron Paul wins CPAC Straw Poll, Pawlenty finishes fourth

Posted at 4:46 PM on February 20, 2010 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)
Filed under: Pawlenty travel, Tim Pawlenty

Texas Congressman Ron Paul won the straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference. 31 percent of the 2395 registrants polled picked Paul. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney finished second with 22 percent support. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin finished third at seven percent. Gov. Tim Pawlenty finished fourth with six percent support. Pawlenty tied with "undecided" (6 percent) and just ahead of other (5 percent).

The crowd booed when Paul was announced the winner at CPAC.

Government spending was by far the biggest concern of those polled.

Here's a bad sign for Pawlenty and the other candidates -- A majority of those polled (53 percent) said "they wish the GOP had a better field of potential candidates."

You can read the full results here..

Update: Romney won the 2009 straw poll, with 20 percent support, followed by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal with the support of 14 percent of those polled. Paul and Palin tied for third at 13 percent. Pawlenty was second to last in 2009 with 2 percent support.

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