Goodness gracious, the folks over at Tim Pawlenty 2012 must be so depressed. Not one but two stories hit today, basically saying the same thing: "TPaw" is in trouble.
The New York Times speculates that Pawlenty could be the first Republican Presidential candidate to pack it in after the Iowa straw poll on August 13. (Even before Newt Gingrich? Now, that's an accomplishment.) Similarly, Bloomberg is averring that Pawlenty's current six percent in the Hawkeye State could deal him a political death blow.
We cats have some random thoughts on all of this.
First, either these two stories running concurrently is a total coincidence, or someone in one of the other Republican camps is doing an incredibly effective job of setting Pawlenty up to fail. (Cutie-pie Jon Huntsman probably has the greatest incentive. But it could also be Ed Rollins, poisoning the waters on behalf of Michele Bachmann. Or Romney. Or Perry.)
Second, we are puzzled by the continued assertion in the press that Pawlenty has built an impressive Iowa organization. We've seen little evidence of this. We have noted some top-level endorsements — but does Pawlenty have a campaign chair in each of Iowa's 99 counties? Or captains in Iowa's 2,500-plus precincts? We want names. Lists of names.
On that note, does the Pawlenty campaign have a fleet of buses standing at the ready? (These early states often become a battle of who can shuttle in the most supporters. Just ask Ron Paul.) Will Pawlenty bring people down from Minnesota? Somehow, we cats think that the candidate who will win the "I-can-bus-more-people-in-from-our-home-state-than-you-can" contest will be Bachmann.
Finally, are these Pawlenty stories a subtle clue to Rick Perry's campaign strategy? The secessionist from Texas claims that he won't decide on running until after his silly prayer extravaganza on August 6. But if he waits just one more week to see if Bachmann wins the straw poll and Pawlenty drops out, Perry can easily step his "Freedom" and "Liberty" cowboy boots into the ring as the establishment, anybody-but-Mitt candidate. (Thus saving the GOP from the specter of nominating a sure disaster like Michele.)
Yes, we realize this is Inside Baseball. But when the players are as whacky as the 2012 Republican clown college, sometimes you need a little help keeping score.
No comments:
Post a Comment