Almanac: At the Capitol

The press got a chance to chat with Gov. Pawlenty and because we weren't in his reception room as usual, we got to talk politics (he doesn't like to mix campaign business with state business.) When asked if he will stand by his pledge to serve all four years of his term he said "I'm focused on my job, staying in Minnesota being governor." Then when the AP pressed again if he would stand by the pledge to serve all four years, Pawlenty said "that is my intention." That is different than what he said when he announced he was running for governor when he said he "will" serve his whole term (after saying he "anticipates" and "plans" to serve his term). My father, a former political reporter and longtime campaign observer who lives part of the year in Arizona, thinks Pawlenty might be McCain's pick for attorney general instead of vice president.

Pawlenty said McCain could win Minnesota. That was after he was peppered with questions about John McCain's comments that the 35W bridge fell because of earmarks and misplaced pork projects. Pawlenty says he shares the concern that "earmarking is a flawed process" but as for the technical reason the bridge fell, the NTSB should have the final say. Senate Transportation Chair Steve Murphy just told the press McCain's comments were "plain out disgusting" and he owes the state an apology.

BTW, notice TPAW got a trim. The mullet is gone!

Here's what you need to know about soon to be new MnDOT Commissioner Tom Sorel: He comes from outside of MnDOT and he has a technical background as a civil engineer. Both of those facts are politically important, especially after a bridge collapse. Interesting that the governor's office went to Sorel instead of the other way around. Sorel sounds like he'll be pro-transit and light rail. He was the USDOT liaison to the Salt Lake City Olympic games and led the effort to build "infrastructure" including mass transit. I asked him if he'd advocate to get Central Corridor back on track and he wasn't ready to commit to that. He did drop the pro-transit term "multi-modal" several times.

Frequent MnDOT critic Senate Transportation Chair Steve Murphy was satisfied with the pick. Murph said he was "very impressed" with Sorel's comments about transit and he thought Sorel "left the door open" to Central Corridor. Murphy spoke with federal Transportation Chair Jim Oberstar who is also "confident" with this selection. Murphy will hold confirmation hearings, but it won't be anytime soon. Pawlenty and Murphy gave great praise to acting commissioner Bob McFarlin who attended the press conference in "support" of the appointment. McFarlin was one of three people interviewed for the job. Sen. Murphy said he would have been "comfortable" with McFarlin as well.