Mr. Pawlenty Goes to Washington (for Medicaid Cash)

Today, Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty asked for $260 million in federal funds from a stimulus bill he had earlier derided as "reckless".

Over the past year, much has been written and televised about the tea party and the RINOs and the demands for ideological purity. The fact that today, Tim Pawlenty requested $260 million in stimulus money from a jobs bill that Pawlenty described as “reckless” should give anyone that advocates for this sort of ideological purity pause.  Governing, it turns out, does not lend itself to the neat ideological distinctions that the far right would like to believe its candidates should…and can deliver.

As most of you know, Tim Pawlenty is the only Republican that we can safely say is running for the nomination. Pawlenty has spent most of the year trotting back and forth to big primary states, meeting with the individuals and the voters whose support is so crucial for any candidate that hopes to have a shot at the nomination.  He has made trips to Iowa and New Hampshire.  He has also dialed up the rhetoric to appeal to the right.  He made a show of rejecting stimulus money from the Obama healthcare bill and he recently described the president’s jobs bill as “reckless.”

Well, as you also are surely aware, there is a recession and like most states, Minnesota could use a little help.  The Mayo Clinic, the state’s largest private employer, didn’t respond so well to the governor’s refusal of the healthcare money and pressure has been mounting on the governor to accept some of the government’s assistance.  Today, Pawlenty swallowed hard and requested $260 million from Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.  He, and Minnesota, will get the money.

Pawlenty wasn’t wrong when he said the jobs bill was reckless.  It is.  But to deny all stimulus funds because he would have structured the bill differently would have been equally reckless.  Words are cheap.  Governing is too hard to worry about ideology.  There are goals and problems and dealing with them destroys any sort of claim to ideological consistency that even the best politicians had before they entered office.  Anyone that governs responsibly will anger his ideological base and his ideological opponents.  This is the sign of a doer.  Not a RINO.

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