Sunday, August 14, 2011

What Pawlenty's exit means to the Republican race

Nice guys finish...

Pawlenty finished a distance third in yesterday's meaningless (and yet meaningful) Iowa Straw Poll.  Today he dropped out.  He was never able to garner the star power that a few other Republican candidates had.  It's too bad.  Although he is a bit too conservative for some, he seemed reasonable, intelligent, and not mean-spirited.

In an alternate universe, this poor guy would be vice president right now.  He was on the short short-list of McCain's vice presidential picks in 2008.  He even cut off his mullet to appease the American public, he was so sure that he was going to be the veep pick.  Of course, old man McCain ended up with that mavericky maverick from Alaska.  And you know the rest of the story.

Pawlenty's departure will mean a small net plus for Romney, the front runner and another moderate.  His departure does not bode well for Jon Huntsman* (who, in my opinion, is the best mainstream Republican candidate).  Why?  Because no amount of reasonableness or intelligence will get you the nomination (from either party) if you're just nice.

Here's a gem from George Will-- conservative pundit, intellectual, and baseball enthusiast.  This was his prediction just three months ago.  FYI: Mitch Daniels decided not to run because his wife left him and their kids for another man many years ago but eventually returned to Daniels.  The family did not want the media to expose all the layers of dirt, as they are wont to do to presidential candidates.


*Huntsman finished 9th yesterday, with a whopping 0.4% of the vote.

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