In a week when John McCain’s aides have been mocking Barack Obama as The One, it’s worth asking if Gov. Tim Pawlenty might just be The One McCain has decided to choose as his running mate.

The GOP veepstakes speculation cranked into high gear Monday amid speculation that McCain might go public with his choice this week, in part to wrestle the media spotlight away from Obama’s globetrotting tour. (Columnist Robert Novak, who has impeccable Republican sources broke the news, which he later walked back saying he believed it was just a ploy by McCain’s people intended to, you guessed it, gin up media attention.)

In any case, the frenzy inevitably tossed Pawlenty’s name into the mix, compounded this morning by CNN, which reported that McCain privately told a group of New Hampshire Republicans that he thinks they are “really going to like” Pawlenty. The unnamed GOP source said McCain’s endorsement came “out of the blue.”

For his part, Pawlenty is zipping his lip. He told both MSNBC and Minnesota Public Radio that he’s done commenting about the whole thing. Per MPR:

“I just have stopped engaging in the discussion because there’s just so much speculation and comments back and forth and things. I just have taken the position that I’m just not going to engage in the speculation any further.”

Meanwhile, Pawlenty’s political spokeswoman said Monday she’s no longer responding to questions about the veepstakes, referring all future queries to the McCain campaign. McCain spokesman Tom Steward confirmed that, saying campaign officials “certainly are not going to be talking about the selection process publicly.”

Pawlenty’s on the road again this week, attending a meeting in Washington, D.C. Monday (and, according to CNN, meeting with McCain aides at campaign headquarters). Today, he’s scheduled to appear at a GOP Lincoln Day dinner in Michigan.

Update: On this morning’s Chris Mathews Show, conservative pundit (and Obama acolyte) Andrew Sullivan flatly predicted that not only is Pawlenty The One, but that McCain’s already made the decision. The transcript, via the Huffington Post:

SULLIVAN: I think the vice-presidential picks are both going to be boring and underwhelming. We hope for a big moment, but actually…neither candidate wants to mix their brand up with another strong brand. I think that Pawlenty will probably be McCain’s number two - I think he’s already made that decision, actually - and I think Obama has yet to pick, but he doesn’t want someone that will outshine him.

MATTHEWS: So that ticket is going to be known as good and Pawlenty.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008 at 9:39 am and is filed under John McCain, Main, Presidential, Republicans, Tim Pawlenty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.