The former Minnesota governor, who faces off against seven Republican contenders in a televised debate on Thursday evening, needs a stand-out performance to propel him from the back of the crowded field.
His poll numbers are mired in single digits and even party strategists say he comes across as just too nice.
The next few days in Iowa, a state with early influence in any U.S. election, will be crucial for Pawlenty, culminating in Saturday's straw poll where he faces a big test against Michele Bachmann, a Minnesota congresswoman who is a favorite of the conservative Tea Party movement.
Interviews with more than a dozen donors to Pawlenty found two camps -- the disillusioned and those backers still holding out hope their man, who held city and state offices in Minnesota before becoming governor, can break out of the pack.
Texas banking executive Jeff Austin III is also wondering about the wisdom of the $1,000 check he wrote. Pawlenty "has an outstanding record" as a two-term governor but his message has been lost, Austin said.
"Tim Pawlenty used innovative and conservative leadership to balance the state's budget, cut spending, reform health care and improve schools without raising taxes," the candidate's website says of his record in Minnesota.
Popularity boils down to some basic things. No. 1: Do the right thing. No. 2: Be fair-minded in tone. No. 3: Be likable and treat people well. Over time, I’ve learned that people—even if they don’t necessarily agree with you—will cut you some slack and respect you as long as they feel you’re being fair-minded and thoughtful. The big motivation for me to run for President is to provide solutions, even if they’re unpopular. Otherwise, it’s a waste of time.
In the end, people don’t care so much about who has a better white paper on Sarbanes-Oxley reform as whom they would like to have a beer with. About 10 or 15 percent of the vote decides the election. I grew up in a family of Reagan Democrats, and we’d say: “I don’t always agree with Reagan, but I like him. He seems like a person we can trust.” I got reelected as a strong conservative in one of the most liberal states in the country, where you couldn’t just appeal to Republicans. This is the state of Eugene McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey and Paul Wellstone and Al Franken. You’ve got to be who you are and say what you believe, but with a tone people will respect.
Keep in mind that at this point the last time around, Hillary Clinton was leading Obama in the polls by 20 or 30 points. These polls bounce around. If you chase them, you’ll be like a bouncing ball with no compass. We live in a world of reality TV shows and soft entertainment that lights the lamp in terms of popularity but oftentimes just doesn’t mean anything. These are very serious times; anyone can quickly conclude that we’re in deep crap financially. Leadership is about doing the right thing. Then popularity will take care of itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment