Pawlenty said that regardless of the fact that Bachmann is the only woman in the GOP field, it’s not about gender. It’s about the issues, results, and leading and saving our country.”
The exchange came just hours after Pawlenty and Bachmann engaged in their fiercest and most direct confrontations of the campaign so far, and a day before the critical Ames straw poll that could ultimately make or break Pawlenty’s candidacy. Pawlenty’s more sharp-edged approach was a break from the June debate, when he awkwardly backed away from earlier criticisms of front-runner Mitt Romney. But Pawlenty said Friday that he’s just answering the questions asked of him.
“No matter which way you calibrate that, a bunch of people are upset one way or the other,” he said. “So you just gotta answer the question.”
He played down a joke he made during the debate that jabbed at Romney’s considerable wealth.
“I was just having some fun with that and pulling Mitt’s chain,” he said.
Pawlenty insisted there’s no personal bad blood between him and Romney.
“I like Mitt,” he said. “We don’t have any personal tension or animosity.”
Asked by POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin whether he’s prepared to slim down his campaign if Ames doesn’t go well and a state-by-state slog emerges, Pawlenty expressed confidence that he’ll make a strong showing at Ames but acknowledged that he may be forced to pare down his campaign if he doesn’t. “We may not have any choice if it went that way.”
“We’re seeing some nice movement in the numbers. I can’t tell you that we’re gonna win it tomorrow or that we need to win it,” he said. “I think it’ll be a good result.”
Pawlenty had harsh words for the so-called congressional super committee charged with finding more than $1 trillion in deficit reduction.
“I think it’s super stupid,” he said to laughter. “We have a Congress and we have a president, do your job.”
Pawlenty dodged several questions about what he thought would have happened if the debt ceiling hadn’t been lifted by the Aug. 2 deadline, but pressed repeatedly, he came down somewhere between the conservative debt-ceiling skeptics and economists who say it would have been disastrous.
“It probably would have been very negative for a while, but it’s very negative right now anyway,” he said.
Even before Bachmann arrives at an event, the music is blaring. And I mean, blaring. Like, to the point where it’s hard to hear the person next to you talk. Then the carefully orchestrated arrival starts to take shape. At her event at the Humboldt County Republicans’ picnic on Tuesday evening, a tent was set up to the left and rear of the main outdoor stage. A Penske rental truck moved around a few times until it parked to the right and rear of the stage. As the music slowly but surely made my ears bleed, a massive blue bus pulled up – Bachmann had arrived. The bus parked directly behind the stage, between the tent and the truck. And there it sat for a few minutes while people anxiously awaited Bachmann’s appearance. Finally out she came, eagerly greeting her passionate fans that lined the stage. The event had the feel of a rally, with Bachmann firing up the crowd at every turn. When her speech wrapped up, the music quickly came back on, Bachmann did some more glad-handing, posed for photos, signed some autographs – through it all, a handful of security guards stayed close by her side, attentively shielding her from anyone who they didn’t want near the candidate (read: press). And then it was time to get back on the bus – before boarding it, she stopped to sign one last poster.
“Let’s make Obama a one-term president,” she wrote on the board. “I’ll get ‘er done!”
As she walked up the stairs to the bus, she turned around to bid farewell to her fans, the same way the president stops at the top of the Air Force One stairs for one last wave. Bachmann said a few parting words and then she was off, leaving me to go off in search of hearing aids.
Look no further than Pawlenty’s appearance at that very same event in Humboldt to see the difference between the two Minnesotans. For starters, Pawlenty spoke indoors. As far as I could tell, there was nothing choreographed about his arrival at all. He just appeared in the back of the room suddenly, standing there, listening to introductions, bowing his head in prayer and saying the pledge of allegiance. There was no music, thankfully. Overall his appearance in Humboldt was hardly like a rally. Pawlenty cracked a few jokes, but for the most part it was a subdued speech. Pawlenty clearly did not expect to top Bachmann on excitement, but he did want to beat her in substance. After the event, he greeted a few supporters and then he made for the exits, paving the way for the next speaker to take the stage. Instead of a blue bus, Pawlenty stepped on to a non-descript white RV. There was no waving from the stairs. In fact, there weren’t many people left outside at that point to watch him depart, aside from one family who posed for a photo with him. And just like that he was off for his next event in Fort Dodge.
I haven’t been to a Paul event since one in Cedar Rapids a few weeks ago, but if you want to talk about substance, there was plenty of it there. Paul seemed far more interested in talking about the Federal Reserve – boring as it might be to some people – than he did about exciting the audience. That stands to reason, since for the most part Paul’s supporters are a fervent bunch of long-time followers. In fact, at that event I asked a question about a “Made in America” story we were doing for “World News Tonight” and afterwards one Paul supporter approached me wondering why I hadn’t been asking about “more important things” like the Fed. In case you were wondering about Paul’s transportation, he hopped into a black Suburban and then drove off. It was in the midst of the debt ceiling debate in Washington, so the congressman had to jet back to DC for votes.
Today at a Bachmann rally in Pella her campaign introduced a new wrinkle: a moving ropeline held up by two of her security guards to keep the press away from her as she moved from the stage -- in the center of a town square -- to her bus on the street about 50 yards away. Something tells me we won't be seeing that at a Pawlenty or Paul event anytime soon.
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