Althouse: "Tim Pawlenty was debate night’s big loser. He walked onto that stage with one mission..."

June 14, 2011

"Tim Pawlenty was debate night’s big loser. He walked onto that stage with one mission..."

"... to prove himself the ultra-base alternative to Romney. He failed, miserably. Pawlenty’s failure is not the kind of stumble he can correct later. It goes to the core of the guy: offered the chance to confront Romney directly, he flinched. He did not look 'nice.' He did not look like he was observing the 11th commandment. He looked uncertain and weak. He looked like a man fully aware that Romney would best him in a one-to-one discussion of healthcare policy."

Frum says.

ADDED: James Taranto said Pawlenty looked weak.

AND: Here's the relevant video of Pawlenty.

49 comments:

dhagood said...: and i care what frum thinks because....

wv: truti, as in truti-frutti, aw rudy...; 6/14/11, 3:34 PM
Shanna said...: It's too early for this debate, so maybe a bunch of people missed it.

My brother said they had axelrod and gibbs giving commentary, to answer for the Obama side or something. As if that's needed in the Republican debates.; 6/14/11, 3:36 PM
Anonymous said...: I won't click on Frum but I don't have to, every pundit said the same thing.

In my mind last night was just a practice lap. Everybody is still standing, nobody imploded, so it's onward into the fray.

I'm not a big Pawlenty fan but it's way too early to be calling anybody a loser. All of the potential candidates were not even there, I'm watching Rick Perry on the tube right now.

In this article, Frum is the biggest loser.; 6/14/11, 3:39 PM
AST said...: Hogwash! Pundits are all punks.; 6/14/11, 3:42 PM
Mick said...: They are ALL losers and are committing Treason for allowing a non natural born Citizen (Born British) to Usurp the Presidency.; 6/14/11, 3:43 PM
ndspinelli said...: Many people who follow politics have a football mentality. Trooper York's hero, George Steinbrenner, had it when he bought the Yankees and never really lost it. Politics, like baseball, is a marathon. There are ups and downs..winning and losing streaks. So...just chill good people.; 6/14/11, 3:43 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Frum is an asshole. Who cares what he says.

Now there is a grain of truth that Pawlenty did not do so great last night. But a big loser? Hardly. There is a spin cycle happening today of trying to discourage Palin from coming in and to hurt Pawlenty. There are a lot of players involved in this (obviously Romney supports this) but a few pundits on the left are trying to do their own Operation Chaos Psych-Ops.; 6/14/11, 3:45 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: I take that "argument" where is coming Frum, more than any substantive collaboration to the conservative dialog.; 6/14/11, 3:46 PM
Opus One Media said...: Just passing through...

it would appear that Tiny Tim came armed with a single shot mind...

Just a hunch.

bye.; 6/14/11, 3:46 PM
Opus One Media said...: ohhh and I thought the TV show "The Biggest Loser" was on another channel...; 6/14/11, 3:47 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Frum is an asshole. Who cares what he says.

Like Fred just said ;); 6/14/11, 3:47 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Mick, I hear you. I am pissed we allowed non natural born citizens (Born British) and even...gasp...non citizens to upsurp rythum and blues and rock and roll. It is a disgrace.; 6/14/11, 3:48 PM
Known Unknown said...: And Mick doubles down.; 6/14/11, 3:53 PM
virgil xenophon said...: "Frum says.."

And the point is? Fred4Pres is right. Frum has increasingly proven himself to be morphing into a gyrating, pulsating, mincing "moderate" (or as the Brits would say, the "decents"--lets not scare grandma, only the "right" sort of "thoughtful" people need apply) raving ass-hole.; 6/14/11, 3:54 PM
MDIJim said...: I didn't watch, but disagree with Frum. It is way too early for candidates to attack each other. O is beatable because of how he has screwed the economy, but voters are not going to vote against an incumbent unless there is a credible opponent. If Pawlenty were to base his campaign on attacking Romney, we probably would not win the nomination, someone else besides Romney or Pawlenty would win. If Pawlenty did manage somehow to win the nomination, O would defeat him handily because he convincingly plays the part of reasonableness.; 6/14/11, 3:55 PM
Original Mike said...: "They are ALL losers and are committing Treason for allowing a non natural born Citizen (Born British) to Usurp the Presidency."

They are allowing it?; 6/14/11, 3:58 PM
Fred4Pres said...: Frum argues from a position I find untenable. So I stopped paying attention. I do not trust him or consider his views important.; 6/14/11, 4:04 PM
Anonymous said...: Ha! Ha! "Frum says..."; 6/14/11, 4:07 PM
edutcher said...: T-Paw looked as if he wanted a fight on Sunday when he talked about ObamaneyCare, but backed away from it last night.

Yes, he looked weak.

HDHouse said...

Just passing through...

it would appear that Tiny Tim came armed with a single shot mind...

Yes, and HD's looking the same way.

She kicking his ass all over the school yard.

YA BETCHA!!!; 6/14/11, 4:12 PM
Anonymous said...: "Blogger Fred4Pres said...

Frum argues from a position I find untenable. So I stopped paying attention. I do not trust him or consider his views important."

Frum's auditioning to replace David "Rodham" Gergen.; 6/14/11, 4:13 PM
RuyDiaz said...: Pawlenty ALWAYS looks weak. I don't think he is weak--I think he is shy and introverted--but that's a major handicap when the people who will decide the election are stupid.; 6/14/11, 4:13 PM
cubanbob said...: Aside from the fact that a lot of the questions were crap social issues matters as if in a time of near depression unemployement those are the most pressing matters, it appears to me for the portion I watched that Bachman did pretty well. Mitt doesn't have a lock on the nomination by any chance.; 6/14/11, 4:15 PM
Michael K said...: I gave up on Frum several years ago. Look at his blog (where ever it is now) and see that his choice of co-bloggers is mostly leaning left.

On the other hand, Michael Barone said Pawlenty did not help himself.

Another phony pundit is Larry Sabato in Virginia. He helped sink George Allan's campaign four years ago with the nasty stuff, mostly untrue, that was allegedly dredged up from Allan's college days. Sabato contributed some lies so I pay no attention to him any more.; 6/14/11, 4:16 PM
Patrick said...: Nuts to Frum. I don't think he's the guy Republicans ought to look at for strategic options.; 6/14/11, 4:17 PM
traditionalguy said...: I liked Pawlenty's personality. He used nice guy words and a sweet, non-threatening facial manner. He really needs to be running for President of a nice organisation like the YMCA. I would vote for him. But he needs to try leading in fighting as well as in being nice.; 6/14/11, 4:19 PM
Wince said...: The first syllable of his Pawlenty’s last name sounds weak: Paw. “I hurt my Paw. I have a thorn in my Paw – will you take it out for me?”

He should change his name to: Clawplenty.

Now that sounds mean!; 6/14/11, 4:20 PM
Thorley Winston said...: Didn’t watch the debate (it’s eight months before the primary) but from the commentary I’ve read from likely GOP primary voters (not pundits), it seems like the candidates were spending their time introducing themselves and saving their fire for Obama rather than attacking each other.

Reading the exchanges that Taranto posted regarding “ObamneyCare,” it looks like Pawlenty and Romney were both trying to show primary voters that they were interested in running against Obama rather than beating each other up.

That’s not “weak,” it’s smart.; 6/14/11, 4:22 PM
MadisonMan said...: Well, if Pundits say so, it must be true!; 6/14/11, 4:23 PM
Fred4Pres said...: It is fair to say Pawlenty did not help himself last night. I said that myself yesterday. I respect what Barone has to say on the subject. I give no credence whatsover to what Frum has to say.

Frum is not reporting, he has an agenda. For whatever reason he wants to hurt Pawlenty. I do not trust him.; 6/14/11, 4:38 PM
Alex said...: You know who really won last night by not being there? You betcha you know.; 6/14/11, 4:42 PM
JC said...: Alex said:

"You know who really won last night by not being there? You betcha you know."

Obama?; 6/14/11, 5:04 PM
Bender said...: Pawlenty’s failure is not the kind of stumble he can correct later.

Give me a break. The primaries and election are months away.

And no one who actually has a life saw the debate. So there really was no one to see Yawnlenty irreparably doom his candidacy. There is more than enough time to prove himself a man.

The Weasel, on the other hand, is merely wasting his time. If folks really wanted him, he'd be polling up in the high 70s -- with real Republicans -- rather than getting 30s, and tepid 30s at that.; 6/14/11, 5:08 PM
galdosiana said...: I watched the entire debate and have two observations:

1) I do not agree with Frum. I think Pawlenty appeared calm and knowledgeable, and I agree with others that it is too early in the season to be attacking other "R" candidates during the debates.

2) I do not see the evidence for what many people consider to be Romney's "win" last night. I think they were all pretty impressive, confident and well-versed. At this point I don't see anyone as being incredibly far ahead of the pack.; 6/14/11, 5:15 PM
Anonymous said...: This idiot Frum says that Pawlenty "cratered" last night, c'mon.

Last night was a shake down cruise, an exercise in clearing out the cobwebs.

Frum fancies himself as the conservative (he isn't, if he ever was) that will go on MSNBC and bash and belittle conservatives much to the tittering liberals delight.

Hey Frum, I fart in your general direction.; 6/14/11, 5:21 PM
MarkD said...: Frum's a Canadian. He doesn't even get a vote, much less an opinion. Perry won by not being there.; 6/14/11, 5:30 PM
Anonymous said...: I've just coined a new popular internet term that will soon go viral:

"rinhole"

The "h" is silent. It means "David Frum," or Republican in name only lefty asshole.; 6/14/11, 5:41 PM
Penny said...: "He walked onto the stage with one mission.."

Yes he did. Just like Bachmann, Romney, Gingrich, Cain, Santorum and Paul. They made quite an impressive team, and it was in that spirit of "team" that each of them came to debate the absent Obama on policy after policy.

Pawlenty should get kudos for not getting sidetracked by King's question. He moved the anti-obamacare ball down the field, and then passed it on to Romney who took it in to the end zone.; 6/14/11, 6:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Well if Frum says so, that must be correct, no?
I still think Pawlenty did a credible job last night and in fact so did all of the debaters (except maybe Cain) and NO ONE SHOT OTHER REPUBLICANS. Can it be true that the GOP isn't in a circular firing squad this time around?
And we're gonna be battling Obama's RECORD - Record unemployment and UNDERemployment, and HUGE deficit spending for which there is precious little accountability.
Hell, all Pawlenty did was balace the State of MN's budget for 8 STRAIGHT YEARS.
If he can get enough money, he'll beat Romney who is, IMO, Obama lite.; 6/14/11, 6:41 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Wait, if the mainstream media (and its fake-conservative mouthpiece Frum) is pushing the idea that Pawlenty lost the debate, that must mean that they fear Pawlenty.

Or something.; 6/14/11, 7:35 PM
Trooper York said...: Well considering all the baseball championships that George and the Yankees won it might be a good idea to have a football mentality.

What a baseball mentality is really about is being lazy. Sitting back on your heels and waiting for somebody else to drive in the runs.

What the Republicans need is somebody like Billy Martin or Earl Weaver or Pete Rose or Leo Durocher. Somebody that would rip your eyes out to win.

Most of these douchenozzles are freakin Mel Ott.; 6/14/11, 8:17 PM
Trooper York said...: You remember the old story about Leo when the mainstream media douchenozzle asked him why he was such a nasty mean scumbag who would do anything to win?

He pointed over to Mel Ott the manager of the Giants at the time and said "Nice guys finish last."

You had a lot of nice guys in that debate.; 6/14/11, 8:19 PM
Revenant said...: Wait, if the mainstream media (and its fake-conservative mouthpiece Frum) is pushing the idea that Pawlenty lost the debate, that must mean that they fear Pawlenty. Or something.

I believe the current meme is that they're trying to trick us into nominating Romney.; 6/14/11, 9:57 PM
Revenant said...: NO ONE SHOT OTHER REPUBLICANS. Can it be true that the GOP isn't in a circular firing squad this time around?

There is a LONG list of current and former Republican officeholders who contributed to the national financial disaster we're stuck in. Some of them were on that stage last night.

"Its all Obama's fault" might work at convincing particularly idiotic partisans to vote for you, but people with a memory that stretches back further than five years can remember that the nation was careening straight towards disaster under Republican control, too. All Obama and the Democrats did was step on the gas.

Getting rid of Obama is the first step in a VERY long and nasty road to fiscal stability. Somebody should have been up on that stage pointing out that people like Romney might not be as bad *as* Obama, but they're bad enough.; 6/14/11, 10:07 PM
Blair said...: Anyone who really thinks this is a big blunder by Pawlenty probably also thought Howard Dean was a shoe-in this time eight years ago.

The reality is that the last thing you want to do as Romney's opponent is have that debate in June. You want to have it in the Fall, or probably even in the Winter right before everyone starts voting.

Right now, you'd just be happy if people know who you are. Ironically, pundits talking about Pawlenty negatively is probably doing him no damage at this stage.; 6/14/11, 10:22 PM
Penny said...: Taking sides is for the little kids.

Not that I don't want to just EAT them up!; 6/14/11, 11:42 PM
Methadras said...: Romney has side-stepped the issue of RomneyCare by saying that was context sensitive to the state and that it's constitution, while saying that ObamaCare is a federal mandate on citizens and has been proven to be unconstitutional and the president is ignoring those decision. Brilliant move on his part considering that my strategy for him was to basically own it, apologize for it's failures and move on. He did neither and walked away unscathed for now.; 6/14/11, 11:56 PM
Bender said...: Romney has side-stepped the issue of RomneyCare by saying that was context sensitive to the state . . .

Thus, proving that he just doesn't get it. Nobody except him thinks that the problem with ObamaCare is federalism. Nobody except him thinks that people would be perfectly fine with a state destroying personal liberty by dictating a personal mandate, and only oppose it when it is the federal government doing it.

If it is wrong for President Romney to coerce people into buying something, it is equally wrong for Governor Romney to do that.

The fact that he does not get that demonstrates the height of cluelessness, not brilliance, and is one reason why this guy should never even be allowed on the White House tour, much less be allowed to live and work there.; 6/15/11, 1:41 AM
Penny said...: Better yet, Methadras, if we want a more "manicured" federal landscape, it makes sense for the states to be our greenhouses.

Romneycare is a hybrid solution to a well-documented problem we have with healthcare in the USA. Let the Massachusetts' "botanists" give it their best shot...sharing what they learn with the rest of us.; 6/15/11, 1:57 AM
Jeremy said...: Trooper-Dork: "He pointed over to Mel Ott the manager of the Giants at the time and said "Nice guys finish last."

That's not what he said.; 6/15/11, 3:58 PM