Putting Pawlenty's Prez Plans on Ice

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's national profile is certainly growing, but his in-state numbers have fallen off a cliff. A recent poll shows his approval ratings to be among the worst he has registered in office.

Minnesotans apparently are not all that pumped about their governor preparing to run for President. Tim Pawlenty's national profile is certainly growing, but his domestic numbers have fallen off a cliff. A recent poll conducted by SurveyUSA for KSTP-TV shows Pawlenty's numbers to be among the worst he has registered in his seven plus years in office. Specifically, the poll finds that a majority of Minnesota voters (52%) disapprove of Pawlenty's job performance.

According to the poll, almost two-thirds of individuals polled said that their governor “should not” run for president in 2012, while only 40% said that Pawlenty's nationwide publicity tour makes him more effective as governor or has no impact.

As these numbers suggest, Minnesota voters are unlikely to “understand” that Governor Pawlenty is preparing to run for president. Tim Pawlenty has served seven strong years as governor of Minnesota and has registered high approval ratings throughout. The governor owes the people of Minnesota his full attention for the full duration of his two terms. When his term expires in 2010, Mr. Pawlenty can focus on running for President. Pawlenty is not the first politician to campaign for another job at the expense of the one he or she already has. President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton were both senators while, in reality, they were just running for president. So was John McCain. Sarah Palin neglected the Alaskan voters to run for Vice President... before she quit on them entirely. Reality is what it is and politicians are going to campaign, but Governor Pawlenty has a unique opportunity to serve the remainder of the year as he promised Minnesota voters he would without doing serious political damage to his candidacy. Pawlenty's success as a Republican leader of a traditionally Democratic state is why he's an intriguing candidate in the first place. We know who you are now, Mr. Pawlenty. Finish your job now, and come back in a year.