Romney and Pawlenty Are Obama's Only Roadblocks
by Steve
Indiana’s GOP governor Mitch Daniels removed himself from the field of 2012 Republican presidential candidates today, bowing to concerns from his family about making the run. Daniels’ departure from the race removes a potential roadblock to an Obama reelection, because Daniels was the type of GOP candidate who can bamboozle both the Beltway media and independent voters into thinking he is much more moderate than he is, when in fact he is a run-of-the-mill conservative.
With Daniels out of the race, the only two credible challengers remaining are Mitt Romney, who has no chance at getting the GOP nomination, and former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, who promises to enter the race tomorrow. Pawlenty pledges he’ll tell us the truth and claims that Obama doesn’t.
“The truth is, our country’s in big trouble,” Pawlenty says. “We have far too much debt, too much government spending, and too few jobs. We need a president who understands that our problems are deep and has the courage to face them. President Obama doesn’t; I do.”
I’m dying to see Pawlenty’s prescription for adding jobs when he attacks government spending and debt. Let me guess: more tax cuts for the rich and corporations, and a drastic reduction in government regulation and size, just what the Koch brothers and Grover Norquist would want.
Pawlenty is also way too conservative for the majority of the electorate, but that won’t stop the Beltway media from packaging him as a moderate evangelical. And since Pawlenty claims he’ll run a truth-based campaign, perhaps he can start by telling us the truth behind the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis back in 2007, and his administration’s role in that tragedy. Rather than admit he twice vetoed gas tax increases before the collapse then reversed himself afterward, he'd rather avoid the issue or even make himself out to be a victim, in true GOP evangelical style. He definitely doesn't want his penny-pinching dereliction of duty to be spotlighted.
I eagerly await hearing from Pawlenty about truth-telling and why he is better than that black man in the White House. Because the moment Pawlenty touts truth telling, he's actually engaging in nothing more than racist dog-whistle politics.