Testing the waters?

Posted at 11:11 AM on March 26, 2010 by Tom Scheck (2 Comments)
Filed under: Pawlenty travel, Tim Pawlenty

Gov. Pawlenty was in New Hampshire yesterday fueling even more speculation that he's going to make a run for the White House in 2012. MPR's Mark Zdechlik reports that Manchester, NH Mayor Ted Gatsas relayed his take away from an earlier meeting with Pawlenty about presidential politics.

"Pawlenty makes no secrets about it, he's testing the presidential waters," Gatsas said. "During our conversation it was clear that he was thinking about this because he loves his country and the he believes in a blueprint that our founding fathers laid out. And that's very refreshing."

That is a dramatic difference than Pawlenty's canned "I don't know what my future holds" comment.

So which is it? Is he testing the waters or isn't sure. MPR interviewed Pawlenty this morning and he reverted back to his canned response:

"I haven't made a decision about my future plans," Pawlenty said. "I have a day job and need to finish out my job as governor and make sure we do that right."

He added he won't decide about his future until "sometime next year."

H/T MPR's Tim Nelson for getting the audio.

Comments (2)

Frankly, I am a little surprised as Pawlenty just told a Mankato audience earlier this week that “I'd like to open a margarita bar in South Florida.”

Considering his regular jaunts to Naples, that seemed like his plan.

Posted by Minnesota Central | March 26, 2010 11:55 AM

Neither the governor's comments to Gatsas, nor his canned response to a media inquiry are news. Can't we give it a rest? Or is the burning desire to scoop going to keep that question at the forefront of reporters' tongues until the day, probably a year from now, that he formally announces, yes, he is going to run for the Repub nomination to be President?

Posted by bsimon | March 26, 2010 2:06 PM

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories