Pawlenty to Normie: Pack It In?

By Baxter

Now that polls are starting to show Minnesota voters' desire to accept Senator-elect Al Franken and move on, our thoughts are turning to someone whose name is not frequently mentioned in the whole Franken-Coleman fracas.

But it's a name that, politically, should be front and center. Because aside from former Senator Coleman — who never deserved Paul Wellstone's Senate seat in the first place — the Republican whose dilemma we must cackle over with glee is Governor Tim Pawlenty.

"T Paw," the titular head of his state party and someone who surely harbors 2012 aspirations, is in a no-win situation. If former Senator Coleman refuses to withdraw his legal challenges and Minnesota is left with one Senator for months, Pawlenty — a cheery champion of bipartisanship and getting stuff done — will be under enormous political pressure to urge Normie to drop out.

So either the Governor angers his constituents by allowing the Coleman charade to continue, or he completely enrages his party's wing-nut base.

We cats almost feel sorry for the guy — except, of course, since he's a Republican, we don't.