Almanac: At the Capitol

As rumors swirl about McCain announcing his veep pick, Gov. Tim Pawlenty says "I've stopped engaging in all this vice presidential discussion." He made the statement apparently from McCain campaign headquarters on a live appearance on FOX. He repeatedly refused to talk about his place in the veepstakes, but told the interviewer it was "nice to ask." When she pressed if he has been contacted by McCain about being a running mate he again said he's stopped engaging "because there's so much speculation." But when it came to the qualities McCain is looking for, Pawlenty said first and foremost is someone ready to be president. Second, Pawlenty says McCain will be looking for a person who "balances his strengths," adds to issues, messages and someone McCain is comfortable with. It seems to me he's not talking because maybe a decision has been made, but I won't engage in the speculation either :)

There's also an increased collective sense that Pawlenty is not at the top of the list anymore. Even a boxing commentator Crackrockid posted a commentary on YouTube saying "Pawlenty's veepstock has taken a sudden plunge." He cites dropping approval ratings, no idea what he's talking about here, and shows this photo of Pawlenty playfully posing with kids accompanying a comment of "whispers of inproprietry" which can only be an odd reference to the WCCO Radio comment about having sex with his wife. It continues to amaze me how Minnesota which is seen as prude by the rest of the nation seems to have a better sense of humor about our politicians. But the legit national press said last week that the "chattering class" has moved on to a new flavor of the month for VP like Jindal and Romney.

Looking back at the week in politics, the U.S. Senate race was the story. From Jesse Ventura's announcement with Larry King on CNN that he wasn't running to 7 Independence Party members jumping in from former U.S. Senator Dean Barkley and former IP Chair Jack Uldrich. Getting less press is the fact there are also 7 DFLers in this race, most notably Priscilla Lord Faris who is challenging Al Franken. It was a madhouse outside the secretary of state's office for candidate filing.
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In my Campaign Notebook this week, Gov. Tim Pawlenty watches as Sen. John McCain embraces First Lady Mary Pawlenty. Potential first lady Cindy McCain also got a big hug from Pawlenty. Sources have long told me that the two couples hit it off quite some time ago. Could this be the future first and second couple? McCain praised Pawlenty again visiting Minnesota, but neither gave any indication that they're going to share a ticket.
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New media is the new force in politics — so tonight we are re-launching a re-vamped version of our attempt to cover the campaign with special attention to new media. It's called Campaign Notebook. We started it a couple of years ago when we sensed the web was really changing politics, and what a difference a couple of years makes. The online world has completely re-shaped campaigns and politics as we know it.
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It seems Gov. Pawlenty's national press buzz reached a new height in the past week. The London Times declaring "One candidate has risen to the top of John McCain's shortlist" is huge. There's also a new critical mass (often quoting each other) saying he's McCain's guy. As suspected, their appearance together last week created more fodder on the possible future GOP ticket.
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