It is amazing how little attention Tim Pawlenty's candidacy receives, even from his hometown newspapers. The media and TV talking heads, seem to be focused on Mitt Romney, Mitch Daniels, and the whack jobs. At this point, he appears to be carry the least baggage of any of the GOP candidates, which could be precisely his problem. The media needs eyeballs, and eyeballs gravitate toward the frontrunners in the polls or the flamethrowers. When "nice guy" Pawlenty does get mentioned, it's usually a passing reference to how boring he is, never to his record in political office. I can think of at least three things more boring than the former Minnesota governor: (1) Romney, (2) Daniels, and (3) all the talk of how boring Tim Pawlenty is.

Have known Steve for over 20 years and recall that the naysayers went to work on him back then also. Sure, he's hit a few bumps along the way, but as any serious commercial developer will tell you, that's how you get educated. Concord should be thankful that a local boy (like Sam Tamposi in Nashua a few decades ago) has the wherewithal to demonstrate such commitment to his (adopted) home town. Sure beats having some big New York developer muscling in and using the city as a cash cow.

No way am I "resigning" myself to become an independent, for two reasons: (1) I'm old enough to remember what REAL conservative Republicanism is all about (like, before many of these guys were out of grade school); and (2) leaving the GOP would just help this crowd achieve their goal and, in doing so, insure liberal Democratic victories for decades to come (remember Christine O'Donnell). Why not stick around and make their lives miserable? It's up to us mainstreamers to sell our agenda, not to just throw up our hands and say, "Waaah, they called me a RINO. I'm gonna pick up my marbles and go home." Let them "RINO" away -- consider the source.

"Neither the governor nor the House rely on new taxes..." Could this be an early signal that the governor is considering a fifth term? If he weren't, why would he care (unless he's keeping his options open for a U.S. Senate seat at some point in the distant future)? The GOP has numerous outstanding gubernatorial possibilities for 2012 (Gatsas, Bragdon, Stephen, Lamontaigne -- to name a few). Lynch is popular, but the Dems have no down-ticket bench to speak of in a year that's looking good for Obama in a state with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. Not one of your toughest jigsaw puzzles.

Didn't think I'd have to spell it out, but I'm sure it's clear to most readers that "the problem" is the extraordinary burden on the citizens (taxpayers) due to inadequate delivery of services by unmotivated or marginally competent employees who cannot be dismissed. They're in the private sector, too, but they do not (and cannot) stick around very long, or else the business would sink. There is also a burden on these employees' supervisors, co-workers, and (where applicable) subordinates -- worked for the state many years and, believe me, I've witnessed it first hand. I'm sure that many of the public employee and union bashers you see in these posts have had a bad experience with some agency in the past. I had great people working for me and don't like to see them (or the overall reputation of state government) tarnished by the bad apples and neither should you.

I'm no tea party guy and some of Bachmann's past statements have been off the wall, but given the frequency with which New Englanders (and national commentators) routinely confuse Minnesota and Wisconsin, this gaffe is hardly worth the pixels in this post.