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Pawlenty's Only Vision: Himself as President

He will 'say anything' to win: Minnesota critic

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 28, 2011 12:30 PM CDT

(Newser) – Tim Pawlenty likes to pretend he has convictions; indeed, his autobiography is called Courage to Stand. But he’s sadly mistaken, writes Shawn Otto, whose great-great-uncle founded the Minnesota GOP. The fact is, the former governor is “willing to do anything, say anything—be anything” to win the presidency. While he tries to project “strength, fortitude, toughness,” his persona is simply “manufactured,” Otto writes at MinnPost.

Otto offers a few examples: In the 1990s, Pawlenty told him he was “personally” pro-choice—but to run as a Republican, “you've got to find a way to get your mind around the language of saying 'pro-life.'” As governor, he pledged “no new taxes”—putting “fees” in place instead. More recently, speaking in Iowa, he appeared to affect a southern drawl. Pawlenty’s shown a “readiness to sacrifice principles for favor, to get his ‘mind around the language,’” Otto writes. Some say he doesn’t stand for anything. Well, “he does. It's just that he doesn't know what it is.”

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Tim Pawlenty speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, Tuesday, June 28, 2011. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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Perhaps there is no room left in the world for Republicans who are not willing to "get their mind around the language." - Shawn Lawrence Otto

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Pawlenty's Only Vision: Himself as President

He will 'say anything' to win: Minnesota critic

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