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United States News Title: Pawlenty in New Hampshire: GOP needs to rebuild CONCORD, N.H. — Do you know who Tim Pawlenty is? "Never heard of him," said Patricia Goulet, of Concord, shopping for books at a local Border's. How about you, Susan Chabot, of Manchester? "No." He's the governor of Minnesota. Ring a bell, Rich Audet, of Northfield? "Nope." Little more than a year after the last presidential election, the Minnesota governor made an early stop in a state key to any national political campaign's strategy — New Hampshire. It was yet another potential building block by Pawlenty as he explores whether he could put together a viable presidential candidacy. And while he may not be known to a group of holiday shoppers at a nearby strip mall, Pawlenty's speech Monday at a Republican fundraiser could be seen as an early effort to build a network of support and create buzz in a state that has launched many candidacies down the road to the White House. Talking hockey, Sam's Club and his blue-collar roots, Pawlenty noted that the political pendulum is swinging back toward Republicans, and that they need to be ready to govern. "We were fired for cause, and now we need to rebuild," Pawlenty said. "We need to offer not just the criticism, we also need to offer what we can do to make a positive difference in the lives of people in New Hampshire, and in Minnesota and across the country." Pawlenty has already visited Iowa — site of the country's first presidential caucuses. And now he's been to New Hampshire, Advertisement At the foot of the sign are a series of etched flagstones to which Pawlenty's name could one day be added: they honor the Democratic and Republican winners of the state's primary, from the memorable (Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton) to the forgotten (Paul Tsongas, Pat Buchanan). In his speech, Pawlenty tossed out plenty of red meat, showing the sharpened edges he has demonstrated recently in his criticism of Democrats. Railing against what he called out-of-control spending in Washington, D.C., he accused the government of running a "Ponzi scheme on the Potomac," and said the government should "impound" unspent stimulus and TARP dollars. He called the health care bill a "liberal monstrosity" and accused President Obama of "jamming it down the country's throat." This was the new, more aggressive Pawlenty. But it was when he returned to an old theme that he seemed to resonate most with the crowd. Pointing out that Minnesota is a traditionally Democratic state, Pawlenty said the Republican Party must work to be more inclusive. "If were going to grow this party we need to regain the support of what we used to call the Reagan Democrats, and what I now call the Sam's Club Republicans," he said. The old line got new laughs. Saying Democrats are racking up debt and "give the illusion that they're giving away free stuff" — a message that he said naturally appeals to families struggling with job losses or high health care bills — Pawlenty declared Republicans must work harder to connect with voters. "We're not the party of giving away free stuff. We've got a little more explaining to do about how our ideas and values work. But when we do and we do that effectively, we do that positively, and we do that as a hopeful, optimistic party, and we do that without compromising our principles, then we gain support," Pawlenty said. "That's what we need to do" Cliff Hurst, a city Republican chair from Manchester and a co-chair of Mike Huckabee's 2008 New Hampshire campaign, said he thought the speech was "excellent." "I think the thing that resonated with me was the inclusiveness and the reaching out, because that's a lot of the philosophy that I had when I was city chair," Hurst said. Huckabee, Sarah Palin and other potential 2012 Republican candidates have fared much better than Pawlenty in recent polls. But New Hampshire has a history of lifting the campaigns of previously obscure candidates, including Sen. John McCain in 2000. Pawlenty has tapped into McCain's former campaign teams as he explores a run. Hurst said Pawlenty's relative obscurity on the national stage will not be an issue in New Hampshire, should he decide to run. "If people meet you four or five times, then they're probably a little interested," Hurst smiled, a nod to New Hampshire voters' famous fickleness. Peter Spaulding, formerly John McCain's state chairman, said he is more familiar with Pawlenty due to the governor's visits to the state on behalf of McCain. He also praised the speech. "I think he did very well. He talked about the fact that the Republican Party needs to be inclusive, to expand our base. He also mentioned several times that the party has to be a party of ideas, new ideas. Overall, I thought it was very well done," Spaulding said. "I thought he had a good personality, a good delivery. He had a little bit of humor. Those are all things that go over well in New Hampshire."
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You won't get my vote Pawlenty. Give it up. Your record speaks for itself. Perhaps he can run on the Green Party ticket.
He Pawlenty, go F' yourself buddy. "rebuilding" means more of an "open tent" which is what got us in this mess in the first place.
Hmmmmmm......gee....wonder what that means / sarc
Death to everybody who does not get outta my way.
"rebuilding" means more of an "open tent" which is what got us in this mess in the first place. Bingo!
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