Did anyone ever think they would read this headline: ?Minnesota?s Pawlenty creating 2008 GOP buzz??
Can someone named ?Pawlenty? create any kind of buzz? I?m just being realistic ? and so, apparently, is the reporter in question, as can be seen from the lede:
Republicans are reportedly talking about a potential presidential bid by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, despite few people knowing who he is.
Maybe it?s a different kind of buzz we?re talking about.
Not to say that Gov. Pawlenty doesn?t have some selliing points, mind you. Anti-tax activist Grover Norquist says Pawlenty is in the ?top 12? of the presidential field. He may well be the 2008 version of Bruce Babbitt or Pete du Pont. He might outperform Sen. Lieberman?s ?Joe-mentum.?
My favorite quote is this one:
But Pawlenty’s top aides say there is “absolutely no proactive planning, no scheduling, no fundraising, no saving of news clips, nobody assigned to even think about 2008.”
You only categorically deny something that strongly when it is, at least partly, true.
