"You can't change the direction of the wind...but you can adjust your sails..."
(Ah, yes! Sailing metaphors always work so well in politics, as in life.)
Having just about grounded himself with the national Republican shipwreck this November, Tim Pawlenty has read the political winds and tacked to the center so hard the pans are rolling in the galley.
Good move.
The Minnesota governor is always the key player in the legislative session. This will be even more true this year with a hord of DFL newbies in the legislature sharing in common little more than a sense of revulsion about George Bush and the Iraq war.
Coming out with specifics on environmental and energy issues, as well as signalling a willingness to put health insurance reform on the table, has put Pawlenty in the lead in setting a constructive tone for the earlier part of the session (not to mention defining the early legislative agenda).
Whether he can successfully get some of these initiatives through and do some early bridge-building with DFL moderates, particularly in the 'burbs, will determine the tone of things to come in three months when the rubber hits the road and they're talking about money.