He vowed to tell Americans only “hard truths,” but Sunday
morning, just hours after finishing a disappointing third place in
the Ames straw poll, Tim Pawlenty faced a hard truth of his own and
decided to end his presidential campaign. Tight funds and a
disappointing finish might have been the reasons he quit, but they
weren’t the reasons why his campaign stalled.
Pawlenty was one of the first to announce his bid for president,
giving himself adequate lead time to put together a solid campaign.
Though his record looked impressive, the media labeled his
personality as too vanilla. This, in and of itself, may not have
been enough to hurt him substantially — especially pre-Obama —
but his laidback demeanor and Minnesota Nice persona became a poor
match against what the primary electorate wanted.
There was already one charming guy in the White House, sending a
thrill up Democratic voters’ legs. And the Tea Party did not want
someone plain vanilla in either the flavor of their conservatism or
their personality.
While the media fixated on Pawlenty’s personality, the candidate
himself didn’t seem to know who he was. Voters, like toddlers, need
consistency. His bold truth-telling pledge seemed to disappear from
his campaign speeches as quickly as it appeared. When he got in a
good jab at Mitt Romney’s health care plan — calling it
“Obamneycare” — he backed down from the comparison when in
Romney’s presence at a debate. Pawlenty should have decided earlier
in the game who he wanted to be and stuck to it. It also wouldn’t
have hurt had he decided to let loose some confrontational rhetoric
sooner, rather than later.
Finally, no amount of funds or straw poll finishes could compare
to the effect Michele Bachmann had on her former governor’s
campaign. All of his flaws seem to be magnified in her presence;
from the outset, she outshined him in every way: Announcing her
candidacy during a debate (as he looked on, feigning a smile),
financial resources (she raised $4.2 million her second quarter),
charisma (vanilla has never appeared next to her name), and debate
techniques (she has been declared the winner or a close second to
Romney in the last two debates).
This was never clearer during the last debate, which turned out
to be more of a catfight, than a boxing match, between Pawlenty and
Bachmann — with the latter walking away with the least amount of
scratches. Whether because Bachmann is an attractive, poised woman,
or perhaps because she is the superior candidate of the two, every
time Pawlenty corrected her or lambasted her record, he ended up
worse off — looking more like a whiny schoolboy or bumbling bully
than intelligent peer.
Pawlenty’s criticisms of Bachmann weren’t without merit. He has
more experience as an executive and a track record of getting
things done. But his persona was so dull compared to Bachmann’s,
his answers so varied between too nice and too defensive, he got
lost in her shadow and never found his way beyond it.
In the end, Pawlenty’s campaign faced too many obstacles. The
timing wasn’t right. Republicans want a dynamic cheerleader with a
record of titanium conservatism — and all they got was a
straight-laced politician. There is a case to be made that a
blue-state conservative governor will be a good fit for the general
election. But this particular governor just didn’t fit in with what
the Tea Party-infused GOP is demanding.
