I think that’s enough for any one person to endure.”
~ Tim Pawlenty on The Colbert Report, re his withdrawal from the GOP Presidential Race after the Iowa Ames Straw Poll results were announced.
(image courtesy of CNN)
Perry-Romney Rivalry Heats Up: Former Pawlenty Staffers Join Perry’s Campaign
Even though former Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is throwing in the towel, it doesn’t mean the former Governor of Minnesota’s will no longer play a role in the election process. Monday morning, shortly before the Republican debate began, Pawlenty appeared on Fox News to throw his support behind candidate Mitt Romney.
From the New York Times:
Mr. Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota who ended his quest for the Republican nomination last month, chose Mr. Romney over Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, whom he was close to from their years serving on the Republican Governors Association.
Many of Mr. Pawlenty’s contributors and supporters had been waiting for a signal from him in the escalating contest between Mr. Romney and Mr. Perry. And Mr. Pawlenty had been looking for help in retiring a campaign debt of at least $500,000.
In a statement announcing Mr. Pawlenty as a national co-chairman of his campaign, Mr. Romney said: “Tim will be a trusted adviser as I move forward with my campaign. Tim has always been an advocate for lower taxes, reduced spending and an environment where jobs can be created. It is an honor to have him serve as co-chair to my campaign for the presidency.”
Unfortunately, it would appear that those who helped make Pawlenty a household name don’t share his opinions. This morning, Rick Perry announced the addition of several new staff members to his campaign:
From The American Independent:
Texas Gov. Rick Perry today announced additional staff joining his campaign’s Iowa leadership team, including five former members of former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty‘s 2012 presidential campaign.
Matt Whitaker, formerly Gov. Pawlenty’s Iowa chairman, will join the Iowa Perry campaign as statewide co-chairman, serving alongside current statewide chairman, Robert Haus.
“We have a strong Iowa team that will help me take my vision to get America working again all across the Hawkeye State,” said Perry. “I am proud to have these top-notch individuals leading our efforts in Iowa, helping carry my record and vision for job creation and fiscal conservatism to caucus voters.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination on Sunday, hours after finishing a disappointing third in the Iowa straw poll.
“I wish it would have been different. But obviously the pathway forward for me doesn’t really exist so we are going to end the campaign,” Pawlenty said on ABC’s “This Week” from Iowa shortly after disclosing his plans in a private conference call with supporters.
The low-key Midwesterner and two-term governor had struggled to gain traction in a state he had said he must win and never caught fire nationally with a Republican electorate seemingly craving a charismatic, nonestablishment, rabble-rouser to go up against President Barack Obama. […]
“I think we know with reasonable certainty that standing up there on the west front of the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2013 will be one of three people: Obama, [Tim] Pawlenty and [Mitch] Daniels. I think that’s it.”
—George Will, back in May on “This Week”
(Thank you George Will…another over-paid windbag)
in Iowa, Voter Intimidation is encouraged, because of the way the rules work at Caucuses.”
~ Domenico Montanaro, NBC Political Reporter
[Iowa Straw Polls have correctly chosen the GOP Primary Candidate in 29 elections, and were incorrect in 11 - whadya think?
Will Ron Paul ensnare the GOP Nomination?]
I just finished watching the latest episode of Jersey Shore right after watching the republican debate in Iowa, and damn, those two shit shows have surprisingly similar casting:
Mitt Romney is The Situation. He’s an untrustworthy narcissist with way more money and screen time than he deserves.
Rick Santorum is Ronnie. He’s a total schmuck who makes terrible decisions and overcompensates for a tiny penis with confrontational behavior.
Tim Pawlenty is Pauly D. He’s a harmless grinning idiot that doesn’t cause much drama and no one takes too seriously.
Ron Paul is Vinny. He’s the sweet one who’s almost adorable until he opens his mouth, and then you realize that he’s just as ridiculous as all the others.
Newt Gingrich is Snooki. He’s a disgusting little goblin that repeatedly gets his ass kicked on the way out the door, yet somehow manages to stay relevant.
Michele Bachmann is Jwoww. She’s the hottest chick in the room, which isn’t saying much, and she’s damaged to the point where she can’t tell when she’s hooking up with a closeted gay dude.
Sarah Palin is Angelina. She’s not even officially part of the show, but she still manages to make appearances, and everyone fucking hates her
This is so horrifying, yet true.
I support that you have your moral values,” Gabe said, not backing down. “But that is something that is hurting my future and how I get to live my life. And that is something that someone that talks about government getting out of your lives, why does government get involved in our marriages?”
“We’re just going to have a respectful disagreement,” the candidate said.
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Gay man confronts Pawlenty: ‘Do you think I’m a second class citizen?’ | Raw Replay This has been another episode of the popular Republican game show: GREAT QUESTION! LAME ANSWER. (via progressivefriends) |
Jeremy Giefer served time in jail in 1994 for having sex with a 14-year-old girl. But you wouldn’t know it to look at the record of the man now charged with sexually molesting his daughter more than 250 times over the last eight years.
That’s because two years ago, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Attorney General Lori Swanson, and then-Chief Justice Eric Magnuson unanimously voted to wipe Giefer’s record clean, granting him a pardon extraordinary.
One reason Giefer wanted his record cleared? His wife wanted to open a childcare center in the house where they live—the same house where Giefer allegedly molested his young daughter throughout the six years prior.That’s one of the troubling details contained in Giefer’s pardon request:
“I was told May 2007 that I could no longer coach my son’s baseball team because I was considered a sex offender. We opened a towing company October 2004 and we were told that if we would like to expand our business and tow for the state Patrol you need to have a clear record. Also my wife has worked in the childcare field for 11 years and she was hoping to open our home to care for children but she is not able to do that since I live in the home.”Wow. So is this the end for Pawlenty? It’s unseemly that one reason given by the governor is that he married his victim. It also took 13 days after his arrest to close down the daycare he and his wife operated.
If you’re a Republican Presidential candidate like Tim Pawlenty and you keep seeing your named used in the same sentence as the word “child molester”, you’d probably think that maybe you shouldn’t be running for President. See? Like in that previous sentence….where Tim Pawlenty and child molester were written so close together.
Written by “Old Redneck” for Daily Kos…
Within hours of Tim Pawlenty announcing his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination, word broke that when he was governor he pardoned and wiped clean the record of a child molester who then went on to molest his own daughter over 250 times.
Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty formally announced his campaign for the GOP presidential nomination Monday morning. By midday, his past was catching up with him.
Reporting by Minneapolis City Pages’ Nick Pinto brought to attention a pardon then-Gov. Pawlenty granted to a sex offender in October 2008, a pardon that is certain to haunt Pawlenty throughout his campaign. Turns out the man Pawlenty pardoned was later arrested again for molesting his daughter more than 250 times in an eight-year span, including six years prior to his pardon.
Jeremy Giefer served 45 days in prison in 1994 after being convicted of statutory rape. However, because he married the then-14-year-old girl and stuck around to father the child they conceived together, he begged the state for an extraordinary pardon, which would no longer require Giefer to report himself as a sex offender.
The board — which included the Minnesota attorney general, the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, and then-Governor Pawlenty — voted unanimously to pardon Giefer.
All this came to light in November 2010 when Giefer was again arrested on counts of sex with an underage girl — this time with the daughter he had conceived with Susan before his first rape charge.
According to the complaint filed by his daughter (identified in court documents as C.G.) Griefer would often make her have sex with him or perform oral sex on him as a favor before he would give her permission to do things, and that he put her on birth control when she was 15 years old so that she wouldn’t get pregnant when he raped her without a condom. The abuse started when she was 9 years old.
And that, folks, is the way Republicans work — fire teachers, reward child molesters.
