tim pawlenty

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has the chance this weekend to begin chipping away at Iowa Republicans unfamiliar with their neighbor governor to the north - someone seriously considering a 2012 campaign for president. His aim in his first multi-stop Iowa trip is to pay special attention to Republicans in Democrat-leaning areas, reinforcing his own political narrative. The Iowa caucuses are expected to commence the 2012 presidential nominating process.  

Here in Minnesota, where Ed and I live, we're watching what may well be a preview of the DFL's rear-guard action against the conservative/Tea Party onslaught this fall. The DFL is a week and a half from their primary to determine who will face conservative Republican Tom Emmer in the race to replace Presidential contender Tim Pawlenty. "The Uptake" is a left-leaning "Citizen Journalist" Group in the Twin Cities, about whom more in a bit.  

The modern Republican argument about taxes seems to boil down to two principles, both misguided: Taxes can be reduced, but they can never be allowed to go up. And whatever level taxes are at, they are too high. Think back to the beginning of the Bush administration tax cuts.  

1. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has endorsed Wyoming State Auditor Rita Meyer 's campaign for governor as the 2008 vice presidential nominee continues to back a stable of women running in contested statewide primary races. "Voters know that Rita has a unique blend of steel magnolia and mama grizzly," Palin wrote on her Facebook page.  

On Aug. 10, DFLers will choose who they want to be their next governor. There is too much at stake in this election to sit this primary out. Almost 204,000 Minnesotans are out of work — including 2,800 people in St. Cloud.  

Oh yes, it's ladies night, but the feeling's not right. The new head of the Minnesota Department of Human Rights is cracking down on bars and restaurants in the state that offer free or cut-price drinks and other giveaways to female customers. In an e-mail obtained by Reuters, the agency says the popular promotions, celebrated in the 1979 hit song by Kool and the Gang, are an illegal form of gender discrimination because they deny "men the right to the 'full and equal enjoyment' of the goods of a plac  

"Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Friday that he expects former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to be among the crowd of GOP presidential candidates in 2012. Gingrich, himself a potential candidate for president, sized up the field of would-be competitors, detailing which GOP politicians he expects to jump into the race. The field Gingrich listed included: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, Mississippi Gov. Haley Bar  

Republicans are happily proclaiming 2010 as the year of the Republican woman, with Sarah Palin's Mama Grizzlies and other female candidates on a roaring tear in primaries nationwide, seemingly adding a diversity to the GOP that even many Republicans say is long overdue. The perception of a wave of Republican women is due to the number of high-profile governors races, including the all-woman governors races in Oklahoma , and New Mexico and a highly touted slate of women candidates for 6 other governors' m  

Tim Pawlenty and Reps. Michele Bachmann, Erik Paulsen and John Kline — Democratic U. S. Sen. Al Franken heads to Minneapolis' Bryant Lake Bowl this weekend for a fundraiser. The Hill notes that Sunday's $75/person "Brunch and Bowling Party" gives Franken a chance to prove himself after characters in an ad for Sen. Norm Coleman's ultimately unsuccessful re-election bid berated Franken's bowling prowess . Emmer's " major fundraising event " gives top billing to Pawlenty on the campaign's website.