Stories

The Republican Party isn’t big enough to “throw people overboard,” so while internal debate is healthy, the party must ultimately stick together, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty told a crowd of GOP activists in Des Moines on Saturday.

With Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty coming to Des Moines next weekend, coupled with the strange dust up over Sarah Palin’s speaking fee for a speech she never intended to give, 2012 prognosticators have had plenty to keep them busy.
Now, throw former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee into the mix.

There has been a lot of chatter recently about which potential Republican presidential candidates might be wise to skip the 2012 Iowa Caucuses.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad will join five of his Republican rivals for the party’s gubernatorial nomination Nov. 7 at a fundraiser in Des Moines, making his first joint-candidate appearance since tentatively joining the campaign last week.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has not confirmed that he will launch a bid for president in 2012, but all signs point to ‘yes.’
His political action committee is officially launching today, and it has hired an Iowa native who was credited with building a winning strategy for George W. Bush in the Hawkeye State before being [...]

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is expected to announce today that he will not seek reelection to a third term, clearing the way for a 2012 presidential campaign that many observers think is already in the works.

Iowa voters are already getting phone calls about Sarah Palin, the Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential nominee who became a household name during last year’s election, reports the Alaska blog The Mudflats.  The blog posted an approximate transcript of the calls, in which an automated voice asked listeners poll questions:

The presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama responded to statements made by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in an Iowa Independent story published earlier today.

During his visit to Ames this afternoon to stump for Sen. John McCain, Pawlenty said voting for Obama to be the next president is too risky, comparing it to bungee jumping. [...]

Speaking at the grand opening of the Tom Latham for Congress and Victory 2008 headquarters in Ames, Pawlenty said Sen. John McCain has a long record of wisdom and judgment, something Obama can’t match.

“We do not want the next president to have a fundamental misunderstanding of the world we live in,” he said.