VP Speculation About Pawlenty Mounts

Dem's strengths expose key gaps in armor of Republican's rumored short-listers

(NEWSER) - Joe Biden presents a problem for John McCain, Jeanne Cummings notes on Politico. “McCain knows Biden well," says one Republican insider. "He knows how good he is as a knife fighter." Stacked up against Biden, all of the rumored GOP short-listers reveal potentially fatal flaws:

• Mitt Romney: Considering Biden's middle-class roots, the multimillionaire former governor could undermine McCain's claims of Obama elitism.

McCain's would-be VP touts Dem's 'hopeful, positive' message

(NEWSER) - Tim Pawlenty, the Republican governor of Minnesota often mentioned as a possible running mate for John McCain, urged GOP candidates to act more like Democrat Barack Obama. "Say what you will about Barack Obama," Pawlenty said today, "people gravitate when you have something positive to say. … People want to follow hopeful, optimistic, civil, decent leaders. They don't want to follow some negative, scornful person." More»

Blogger handicaps chances on both tickets

(NEWSER) - With the presidential race down to four major candidates, Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza turns his prognosticating to the second lines on the November ballot. Who’s in the running to be VP:

• McCain: Mike Huckabee’s a short-list shoo-in, social conservative Tim Pawlenty and McCain go way back, and South Carolina governor Mark Sanford’s a true maverick.

First expense reports offer a glimpse into each campaign

(NEWSER) - Want to get to know your 2012 candidates better? Take a look at what they're spending campaign cash on, courtesy of expense reports obtained by the Washington Post . The first major spending reports of the campaign reveal that the candidates have spent about $32 million so far.

• Tim Pawlenty: You can tell the "upstart" candidate is focused on Iowa because he's spent $200,000 at businesses in the state. Total spent so far: $2.5 million, and a large percentage of that went toward payroll—odd since his top aides are working for peanuts . (Funny tidbit: He spent $7.07 at a Godfather's Pizza restaurant—that, of course, is the pizza chain formerly run by his opponent, Herman Cain.)
• Mitt Romney: The "establishment" candidate spent money on, not surprisingly, security and consultants—plus $750,000 at businesses in New Hampshire. More of his budget—18%—goes to administrative expenses than any of his GOP opponents. Total spent so far: $5.7 million.

Obama is clobbering Republican candidates in money race

(NEWSER) - Fundraising reports are starting to trickle in from the GOP presidential field, and the results look great—for Barack Obama. Even Mitt Romney’s vaunted money machine collected only $18 million in the first true quarter of fundraising, a big step back from his 2008 showing, Politico reports. The results only get uglier from there, with Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman not even cracking $5 million, and the Republican National Committee $18.5 million in debt. More»