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Pawlenty FactSheet

Tim Pawlenty
McCain/Pawlenty = 3rd Bush/Cheney Term

Not Afraid to Stand for George Bush's Principles
Pawlenty: "I'd Stand With President Bush if His Approval Rating Was 2 Percent." The Star Tribune noted in October 2005, "Pawlenty waved off any concerns about Bush, Hatch or other DFLers on Wednesday. 'I'd stand with President Bush if his approval rating was 2 percent,' Pawlenty said. 'I won't abandon my leader just because times are tough.'" [Star Tribune, 10/20/05]

Consistent on Support for Bush, Inconsistent on the Issues
Pawlenty Vetoed Stem Cell Research Bill After Claiming To Support It. In his 2006 campaign, Pawlenty stated, 'I know Mr. Hatch wants to make stem cells an issue, but I'm going to have to disappoint him. We agree on the issue. I support stem cell research,' Pawlenty told a crowd of about 200 Rochester Chamber of Commerce members and guests at the luncheon debate that also focused on health care. He urged President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress to lift restrictions on such research." However, this year Pawlenty "vetoed embryonic stem cell research legislation." [St. Paul Pioneer Press, 10/6/06, Star Tribune, 5/24/08]

Breaking the Law to Win
Pawlenty's Campaign Received $600,000 in Penalties, the Largest in Minnesota History, in 2002 for Illegal Coordination. "The state campaign finance board leveled $600,000 in penalties against then-Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Pawlenty to settle a board finding of illegal collusion on TV ads. The State Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board fined the campaign $100,000 and charged it with $500,000 in ad spending." [Star Tribune, 10/15/02]

Appealing to Fear and Prejudice
Pawlenty Backtracked on a 1993 Vote to Ban Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation to Win the Republican Nomination. "During the Republican state convention, the Sullivan campaign distributed fliers attacking Pawlenty for supporting a gay rights amendment in 1993. The one vote Pawlenty wishes he could redo is his vote for the gay rights amendment. He says the bill protects people who are transgender and cross-dressers. 'There's a whole series of behaviors protected in that bill that have nothing to do with biological makeup. They have to do with, just, simple preferences, for example, of wearing women's clothing,' says Pawlenty. 'I don't know that we need to ... use our antidiscrimination laws in Minnesota and nationally to protect that kind of behavior.'" [Minnesota Public Radio website, 9/13/02]

Pushing Gimmicks Instead of Fixes
Pawlenty Attacked Obama on McCain Gas Tax Holiday After Saying He Was Open To Increasing Minn. Gas Tax. The New York Times wrote, "In the past two years, Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota twice vetoed legislation to raise the state's gas tax to pay for transportation needs. Now, with at least five people dead in the collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge here, Mr. Pawlenty, a Republican, appears to have had a change of heart. 'He's open to that,' Brian McClung, a spokesman for the governor, said Monday of a higher gas tax. 'He believes we need to do everything we can to address this situation and the extraordinary costs.'" But this year, "Wearing his other hat as national co-chair of the McCain presidential campaign Pawlenty sharply criticized the likely Democratic nominee, Senator Barack Obama, for not the idea of a federal gas tax holiday. 'Senator McCain has called for a temporary gas tax holiday to provide at least some immediate relief for Minnesotans and Americans as they face these historic and burdensome gasoline prices,' Pawlenty said, 'And Senator Obama has said no to that idea.'" [New York Times, 8/7/07, KARE 11 (Local NBC Affiliate), 7/24/08]

Letting Minnesota fall behind on roads, bridges, and transit
Minnesota’s Capital Outlays for Roads and Transit Ranked 48th in the Nation Per Capita. “Minnesota is falling behind economically in comparison with states that have made significant investments in roads, bridges and transit. Taken together, our capital outlays for roads and transit placed 48th in the nation on a per capita basis.” [Minnesota 2020, 1/2/08]