Could Minnesota’s budget woes rescue Tim Pawlenty’s presidential bid?
Critics accuse the state’s two-term governor, who left office in January, of using short-term fixes that laid the groundwork for the state’s current fiscal problems. For Pawlenty, though, the crisis that has shut down the state government for a record 11 days and counting has provided a platform to tout his tight-fisted stance toward spending during a shutdown of his own in 2005.
“Look, let me be very candid and blunt with you: Many of the Republican candidates are going to come to town and tell you the same things,” Pawlenty told a town-hall meeting here. “I respectfully ask you to think not just who comes here and flaps their jaw and gives a speech,” but instead weigh who has delivered results.
Full story: Minnesota’s budget crisis could help Pawlenty