VA GOV: Stumping For McDonnell, Pawlenty Shoots For The Middle

ALEXANDRIA, VA -- Even as a celebrity guest of honor, MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) was still second fiddle. Pawlenty, among the list of GOPers expected to seek the GOP WH nomination in '12, touched down in VA on 9/9 to stump for ex-AG Bob McDonnell (R) on a statewide tour that took him from Richmond to the DC suburbs.

Pawlenty -- once on the very, very short list for John McCain's VP in '08 -- has had a hard time making waves since he announced he would not seek a third term as gov earlier this year. As GOP opposition to Obama reached a fever pitch in Aug., Pawlenty was not the GOPer who carried the flag. That duty fell to the woman who beat him out for the VP slot, ex-AK Gov. Sarah Palin (R). And yesterday, a Palin op-ed in the Wall Street Journal again dominated the nat'l storyline as the country prepared for Pres. Obama's health care address. And rather than be a lead voice of his party on the topic, Pawlenty spent a much of the day taking questions on Palin.

In VA, it was the same story.

Pawlenty's trip -- which included a fundraiser for McDonnell in Richmond -- coincided with the battle over McDonnell's '89 grad school thesis, which argued that working women, "homosexuals," and "fornicators" were "detriments" to modern society. (McDonnell has disavowed those views, but Dems and the media have been hammering him over the document for almost two weeks now). Pawlenty's joint presser with McDonnell was all about the thesis -- according to media reports, Pawlenty was hustled out of the room as reporters swarmed McDonnell to ask more questions about the document.

And on a conference call yesterday, DNC nat'l press sec. Hari Sevugan pointed to Pawlenty's appearances with McDonnell as evidence that Pawlenty had "completely embraced" McDonnell's "extremist" views.

Not the ideal scene for a guy trying to carry the moderate flag for the GOP. Asked about the McDonnell thesis, Pawlenty told On Call he had spoken with McDonnell about it and that he believed McDonnell no longer held some of the more radical views. He said the issue was not the one that would drive the race. "Virginians are concerned about jobs and roads and the economy," he said. "That's what's important in this race." He added that McDonnell's views on those issues were resonating with voters in VA.

And, for his part, Pawlenty continued to cast himself as one of his party's more moderate voices. Following the Richmond presser, Pawlenty left McDonnell's side and struck out on his own to stump for the GOPer in Fredericksburg and Alexandria.

Introducing himself to an audience of about 50 volunteers -- several of whom said they are still just getting to know the gov. -- at a coordinated camp HQ in Alexandria, T-Paw played up his image as a blue-state gov. Pawlenty: "I come from a state where we just elected Al Franken ... to the United States Senate by 312 votes. So we do not want to leave anything on the field."

He used the speech to emphasize the same issues he has typically focused on in his nat'l appearances: education, the economy and health care. Conspicuously absent was mention of any hot-button social issues, which some of his fellow WH '12 hopefuls have made a standard part of their stump speech fare.

And in an interview before his speech, Pawlenty veered away from using the charged language that has dominated much of the health care debate this Aug. recess -- even while sounding much the same message as Palin.

Pawlenty, asked to weigh in on Palin's WSJ op-ed: "I think the general concern is, when you have prominent proponents of the current legislation talk about needing to reduce health care expenditures and reduce health care procedures, that leads to concerns about whether there's going to be scarcity and, down the road, rationing. And so, if you have scarcity and rationing, you could get -- or your mom or dad or your grandma or your grandpa could get -- less health care. And so, that's of concern, understandably."

Asked about Palin's use of the term "death panels" in continuing to frame the health care debate, Pawlenty responded: "Regardless of what term you use, the general point and the point to be made is President Obama's plans may lead to the federal government encouraging things or doing things that could affect your health care choices. And the point is, they should be your choices, not the federal government's choices."

In highlighting "choice" and letting other GOPers focus on "death panels," Pawlenty, it seems, has made a rather telling choice of his own.

(EVAN McMORRIS-SANTORO/FELICIA SONMEZ)