While the breathless speculation about Vice President Tim Pawlenty has largely quieted as the week has wound down considerably, his immediate travel plans have kept the veep buzz alive.

On Saturday, he’ll be campaigning in Iowa, at the invitation of the state GOP. Come Monday, he’ll be in Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, for a send-off for Minnesota National Guard troops who are headed for Iraq (great photo op, guv!). Then, apparently after a day back in Minnesota, he’s headlining at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Also, the Strib archives show that before there was vice-presidential buzz about Pawlenty, there was presidential buzz about him.

In early 2005, in the wake of President Bush’s re-election, his name was already in play, bigtime:

His national name recognition probably doesn’t exceed 5 percent,
but in recent conversations about possible 2008 presidential candidates, Gov. Tim Pawlenty was mentioned more favorably by top conservative Republican leaders meeting in Florida than such household names as Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain.

Just Friday, the New York Times named him “a popular conservative considered a rising star.”

Grover Norquist, another top GOP architect who heads the group Americans for Tax Reform, said Pawlenty has caught the eye of elite conservative decision makers. “A successful governor who doesn’t raise taxes, passes concealed carry, reins in spending and who comes from a blue state that’s trending Republican is an attractive candidate for president or vice president.”

“Of the guys in the top 12 for `08, he’s right up there,” Norquist said.

(…snip)

“There’s an undercurrent of talk all the time about Pawlenty,” said Vin Weber, a former congressman, a top Republican strategist and a Washington lobbyist.

During presidential inauguration week in January, Pawlenty was one of the most sought-after interviewees by conservative opinion leaders from George Will to Charles Krauthammer, says GOP Chairman Ron Eibensteiner. He’s constantly getting requests from all over the country to speak at political and public policy events.

Paul Weyrich, an influential conservative who founded the Heritage Foundation and has strong ties to the White House, said that of the candidates who appeal to the Republican base, “I would rank Tim Pawlenty fairly high - in the top three or four nationally.”

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pm and is filed under John McCain, 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.