Since when does Pawlenty care about middle class: people and issues?

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The Wall Street Journal

Possible McCain Running Mate Pawlenty Offers Ideas for Reforming Republicans
By JOHN D. MCKINNON and DOUGLAS BELKIN
August 7, 2008; Page A4

WASHINGTON -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, viewed as a possible running mate for Sen. John McCain, brought his ideas for reforming the Republican Party to Washington on Wednesday. In two appearances here, he criticized the party leadership for sometimes being out of touch with voters in recent years, offered a few kind words for Sen. McCain's Democratic rival, Sen. Barack Obama, and discussed possible new solutions for problems in health care and education -- areas many Republicans have written off as the Democrats' domain. When it comes to addressing many middle-class voters' concerns, the Republicans' "idea factory has been a little stagnant for the last decade," Gov. Pawlenty said at a breakfast for Republican activists. He urged Republicans to spend more time on issues that worry many in the middle class, including health care, education and the environment.

Even if Gov. Pawlenty doesn't wind up on Sen. McCain's ticket, some believe the Minnesota governor represents the party's future, along with a handful of other relatively young governors, including Louisiana's Bobby Jindal. Sen. McCain himself last month said that the two governors are "the future of the Republican party, the next generation of leadership."

They have become the public face of what is seen as the party's reformist wing. This group believes the Republican Party should have focused on economic issues sooner, in response to voter discontent over stagnant wages, rising gas and food costs and uncertainty over jobs and retirement. Their proposed solution: apply conservative, market-based principles, without ruling out government intervention in certain circumstances. Gov. Pawlenty could provide several advantages for Sen. McCain's presidential bid. Many conservatives view the governor favorably, or a least with interest. His state, Minnesota, could be in play this year. Several other Midwestern states, including Ohio, Michigan and Indiana, are expected to be among the most hotly contested in the country. Unlike Sen. McCain, Gov. Pawlenty also is widely admired in the evangelical community nationally. He was born Catholic but married an evangelical Christian and converted in the mid-1980s.

At the breakfast and again at a National Press Club luncheon, Gov. Pawlenty suggested Republicans occasionally have done a poor job of addressing growing economic anxiety among many blue-collar and middle-class voters. He had earlier used the term "Sam's Club Republicans" to describe such people, who roughly correspond to the Reagan Democrats of the 1980s. Gov. Pawlenty suggested Republicans should consider taking the lead in creating online higher-education programs that would allow students to receive a college education at 70% to 90% less cost than current average tuitions. He cited changes already under way at the University of North Carolina, which is headed by a former Clinton White House official, Erskine Bowles. The governor even praised Sen. Obama for his positive message but quickly added that Sen. McCain has the same appeal. Later at the press club, he said Sen. McCain's life story is much more compelling than Sen. Obama's.

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Although Gov. Pawlenty signed a pledge not to raise taxes in 2002 when he was running for governor, he raised fees and supported public funding for a new baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins.


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