Tim was a successful two-term conservative governor in a blue state; at a time when the media (and the president) bleat about needing a "compromiser", Tim came up tiny. Why?
Maybe because the Republican electorate is in no mood to compromise with Democrats? Or, to use the liberal terminology, perhaps we are in no mood to negotiate with terrorists?
Glenn Renyolds points out another flaw with T-Paw:
Pawlenty had woman trouble. He looked weak when Sarah Palin was being blood-libeled over Jared Loughner, which hurt him a lot, and his increasingly shrill attacks on Michele Bachmann didn’t score any points but made him look small. Furthermore, I think that after the McCain debacle, GOP primary voters will look askance at any candidate who seems too interested in harshly attacking fellow Republicans.
A ha. May we have turned a corner here, where gratuitous women-bashing is no longer accepted with a knowing smirk but is seen as a graceless ad hominen attack? When even liberals showed irritation with the now-infamous Newsweek cover shot of Michele Bachmann - which was surprisingly denounced by NOW - was a tipping point reached, where sexist attacks are now viewed as no better than (handful of truly) racist attacks on the president?
The "Queen of Rage"?
At the link above, Miss Attila seems to feel that NOW sees Bachmann as less threatening than Sarah Palin. I don't buy that - Palin was running for VP, while Michele would be running The Show. If I were to smell any hypocrisy in NOW's defense of Bachmann, it might be because they secretly pray for Hillary to challenge Obama in 2012 (lest liberalism die for a generation), and they know what King Narcissus does to those who challenge the throne...
No, I think it does come back to Sarah Palin. She was destroyed by the Left and the media in an orgy of misogyny quite akin to rape, and once successful, liberals practiced it on all of their female adversaries, from Christine O'Donnell to Carrie Prejean. And it seems that - finally - mainstream America, and yes, even some parts of the liberal plantation, are calling for the end of the vicious, hate-filled attacks on their mothers, daughters, and sisters whom dare to differ from the Democratic party line.
But Sarah Palin had to die, so that Michele Bachmann might live. I hope in her moment of victory Michele realizes this (some claim she doesn't), and at some point, give the Alaskan Princess the shout-out she is due...