Accessibility links

Tim Pawlenty Tim Pawlenty

Stories About

Tim Pawlenty

Subscribe to Best of NPR Newsletter

What To Watch In Tuesday's Primaries: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut And Vermont

President Trump and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the $10 billion Foxconn factory complex in June. Scott Olson/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Politics

What To Watch In Tuesday's Primaries: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Connecticut And Vermont

August 14, 2018 • The 2018 midterms have been dominated by talk of Democratic gains, but Tuesday, Republicans will pick nominees in several places they hope to flip House seats and even governors' mansions.

Mitt Romney Finally Takes Credit For Obamacare

Former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney struggled to distance himself from the health care program he implemented in Massachusetts. Now he has acknowledged it was a precursor to Obamacare. Gregory Bull/AP hide caption

toggle caption

Gregory Bull/AP

It's All Politics

Mitt Romney Finally Takes Credit For Obamacare

October 23, 2015 • "Without Romneycare, I don't think we would have Obamacare," the 2012 GOP presidential nominee admits in an obituary remembering his friend Staples founder Thomas Stemberg.

Why Are So Many People Running For President?

Republican presidential candidates Jim Gilmore, Lindsey Graham, Bobby Jindal and Rick Perry participate in a pre-debate forum Aug. 6 in Cleveland. The event gave airtime to seven candidates whose polling numbers were below a top-ten cutoff Fox News set to participate in the main debate. John Minchillo/AP hide caption

toggle caption

John Minchillo/AP

It's All Politics

Why Are So Many People Running For President?

September 5, 2015 • Only one person can win the presidency in 2016, and some of the 22 running have scant chance of victory. So why are they in the race? Many hope luck is on their side, but some might have other goals.

Why Are So Many People Running For President?

Listen · 4:10 4:10

Download
Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/437699700/437768220" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Transcript

It's All Politics

Tim Pawlenty Exits Romney Campaign To Lead Bank Lobbying Group

September 20, 2012 • Tim Pawlenty's resignation as co-chairman of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign comes less than seven weeks before Election Day and during a bad stretch for the candidate.

The Woman In Charge Of Romney's VP Search Tweets A Short List, Or Two

Beth Myers, who leads Mitt Romney's search for a running mate, tweeted a less-than-random assortment of Republican politicians on Friday afternoon. twitter.com/bethmyers2012 hide caption

toggle caption

twitter.com/bethmyers2012

It's All Politics

The Woman In Charge Of Romney's VP Search Tweets A Short List, Or Two

July 27, 2012 • Beth Myers gave shout-outs to several of Mitt Romney's potential running mates. And then several more.

It's All Politics

Tim Pawlenty Endorses Mitt Romney; Ignores Health-Care Differences

September 12, 2011 • Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor who dropped out of race following his poor showing in the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa in August, endorsed Romney Monday. The endorsement is getting big play on former Massachusetts governor's campaign website.

It's All Politics

Low-Key Pawlenty, High-Energy Bachmann Make Last Iowa Poll Pitches

August 13, 2011 • Michele Bachmann, in contrast to Pawlenty's low-key delivery, took the stage, microphone in hand, stressed her Iowa roots, and pronounced the state the "pace car" of the 2012 election. For Tim Pawlenty, the speech was about who could win in 2012. For Bachmann, it was about what judges she'd appoint when she's in the White House.

It's All Politics

Iowa GOP Debate: What To Expect

August 11, 2011 • In the Iowa debate, Mitt Romney, the frontrunner, will likely stick tightly on his message,which is that President Obama has failed to lead, and his approach, which is to play it safe. It's a traditional frontrunner's strategy against an incumbent president of the opposite party.

It's All Politics

Romney, Unlike Competition, Keeps Head Down In Debt Fight

July 28, 2011 • Mitt Romney continues to keep a relatively low profile in the national debate over the debt-ceiling which has fit his general strategy at this phase of the race of not raising his presidential campaign profile too high.

It's All Politics

Pawlenty Has Never Lived Beyond 20-Mile Radius

July 6, 2011 • Such rootedness to a single place would be a fairly common occurrence in, say, the 18th and 19th centuries. But people who have the kind of success Pawlenty has — becoming governor of one a large Midwestern state — tend to be a bit more migratory than Pawlenty as they get schooling and establish their careers.

It's All Politics

GOP Presidential Field: Why Are They All Running?

June 22, 2011 • Obama may be vulnerable to a Republican, but it is hard to see him as vulnerable to any Republican in particular. The one exception is Romney.

It's All Politics

Pawlenty Keeps Voters Guessing About Which T-Paw They'll Get

June 17, 2011 • The ideal competitor to a frontrunner considered a flip flopper would arguably be someone who could boast of consistency. Tim Pawlenty may eventually be able to make that claim. But consistency isn't exactly the word that comes to mind right now when considering the former Minnesota governor.

It's All Politics

Obama Team Focuses On Romney, Pawlenty Or Huntsman As Likely Foes

June 14, 2011 • It will be months before Republican voters actually choose their party's presidential nominee. But Obama's re-election team can't wait that long; they've already winnowed the Republican field down to the three GOP candidates they most fear.

It's All Politics

Tim Pawlenty Misses His Big Debate Moment, Pulls 'Obamneycare' Punch

June 14, 2011 • So the question is, what happened? Pawlenty had teed up the attack and failed to follow through. Did he get cold feet? Did the party big wigs get to him and tell him to back off? Does he want to be Romney's vice presidential pick?

Romney Comes Away 'Unscathed' In Republican Debate

Left to right: Former Sen. Rick Santorum; Rep. Michele Bachmann; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich; former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney; Rep. Ron Paul; former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty; entrepreneur Herman Cain. Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images

The Two-Way

Romney Comes Away 'Unscathed' In Republican Debate

June 14, 2011 • And contenders for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination used the forum to attack President Obama's policies, rather than each other.

NPR's Ari Shapiro on 'Morning Edition'

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137170011/137170825" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

It's All Politics

Pawlenty Truth-Teller Stance Echoes Another Minnesotan: Walter Mondale

May 24, 2011 • Mondale, like Pawlenty, saw himself as delivering hard truths to voters in 1984. The former Democratic vice president tried to deny the Republican Reagan a second term by admitting he'd raise taxes to close yawning budget deficits. Reagan annihilated him.

Day After Being Next To The Obits, Pawlenty Makes Page One In St. Paul

Image at left Courtesy of The Hill; image at right courtesy of the Newseum.

The Two-Way

Day After Being Next To The Obits, Pawlenty Makes Page One In St. Paul

May 24, 2011 • Stories end up in certain spots on newspapers' pages for all sorts of reasons — how important they are; what time they break; how long they need to be. St. Paul's Pioneer Press had a rather unfortunate juxtaposition Monday.

What Might A Tim Pawlenty Presidency Bring?

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, March 2011. Steve Pope/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Steve Pope/Getty Images

It's All Politics

What Might A Tim Pawlenty Presidency Bring?

May 23, 2011 • Pawlenty has asserted that health care overhaul legislation passed by Congress last year "violates the U.S. Constitution." Like many opponents of the law, he argues that the requirement that individuals purchase health insurance coverage is a federal government "power grab."

It's All Politics

Post-Mitch Daniels, GOP Nomination Fight Still Looks Bloody

May 22, 2011 • Even if Daniels had entered the race, the contest for the nomination promised to be fierce since Romney appears to really believe he should be president at least as much as many in his party really believe he shouldn't.

Tim Pawlenty To Announce Presidential Campaign Monday

Tim Pawlenty in Iowa at the Fayette County Republican Party Spring Fundraiser, April 2, 2011. Martin Kaste/NPR hide caption

toggle caption

Martin Kaste/NPR

It's All Politics

Tim Pawlenty To Announce Presidential Campaign Monday

May 20, 2011 • As he prepares for his big announcement Monday that he is officially entering the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, Tim Pawlenty can take comfort in knowing he has higher name recognition than, say, Mitch Daniels though he's essentially tied with Rick Santorum.

It's All Politics

Raising (Herman) Cain: GOP's 1st Presidential Debate Has Surprise 'Winner'

May 6, 2011 • Pundits said Tim Pawlenty succeeded. But how fine a night could it have been for him when the former Minnesota governor failed to directly say whether he equates creationism with evolution? Or when he had to make an abject apology for once supporting proposals to cap greenhouse gas emissions?

It's All Politics

Presidential Hopefuls Raise Lots Of Cash (Good Luck Learning From Whom)

April 5, 2011 • As would-be presidential candidates lay the foundations for their 2012 campaigns, one top priority has been stockpiling cash. And every prospect has been busy doing just that.But just try to find any records of who gave that cash.

It's All Politics

Tim Pawlenty Making Presidential Exploratory Committee Move

March 21, 2011 • Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty gets closer to a run for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination with his announcement Monday that he's forming an exploratory committee.

It's All Politics

Romney Or Pawlenty, That's The Dull Choice, Says David Brooks

March 4, 2011 • E.J. Dionne said the GOP presidential field reminded him of the unexciting 1988 Democratic field that produced Michael Dukakis. David Brooks bemoaned how the race had narrowed so early to the two former governors.

More from Tim Pawlenty

Browse archive or search npr.org