T-Paw Touts Support From Minn. Conservatives

Politico reports:

In an unmistakable swipe at Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty's campaign has unveiled a list of endorsements from over 100 conservative activists and officials in their shared home state of Minnesota.

In a statement, Pawlenty said the strength of his Minnesota support shows he "did more than just talk about moving Minnesota in a conservative direction – I actually did it ... Their support is a real validation of our record of delivering conservative results."

The implicit contrast here is clear: Pawlenty is a reformer with results, whereas Bachmann (and perhaps some other candidates) are all bluster. That's a message Pawlenty delivered in his first TV ad, too.

Pawlenty hasn't yet attacked Bachmann directly, but he'll have to decide sooner or later whether he's willing to keep fighting her momentum solely through veiled, passive aggressive shots. At some point, he's going to have to start fighting harder to take away some of her oxygen, unless the hope is that she eventually self-destructs.

One Pawlenty supporter, former Minnesota GOP Chairman and Bachmann chief of staff Ron Carey, took a harder line of attack against the congresswoman in a Des Moines Register op-ed yesterday. But that hardly has the same effect as Pawlenty calling out Bachmann himself.