The Republican National Committee recently conducted an?online straw poll?identifying 32 candidates who could get its nomination in the 2016 presidential race. Each of the 32 has quite a questionable history, though, that contrasts with the GOP’s consistent claim of it being the ?moral? option for voters.
Philander, racism, thievery, bribery, and combinations of these and other?sins?are?found across the slate, in fact.?In this series on the 32 potential candidates (updated every other day), Liberal America will offer a quick rundown on the hypocrisy clouding each one’s ?holier than thou? claims.
Tim Pawlenty
Former Governor of Minnesota
Tim Pawlenty got his first taste of politics at an early age, and hasn’t looked back since. While an undergrad at the University of Minnesota, he got to intern at the office of his state’s U.S. Sen. David Durenberger twice. He quickly switched his major from dentistry to poli sci, then went to law school, then volunteered with political campaigns, and eventually ran for office at the early age of 28.
After four years on county council, he served 10 in years in the state house, even serving as Majority Leader. And when Gov. Jesse Ventura decided he wouldn’t run for a second term, Pawlenty moved up to that office, too. After all, how hard can it be to follow the term of an ex-professional wrestler who had horrible relations with the press?
Well, for Pawlenty, it was very hard, and because of notable scandals that quickly came out to public attention. In his first year as governor of Minnesota, he was caught accepting $4,500 a month for work as an ?independent contractor,? but didn’t want to say who paid him, or for what work. It took a diligent St. Paul newspaper’s investigation to get him to come clean; he was taking the money from a telecommunications company, owned by his old friend and top donor, that was under investigation for a scam operation in the state. (This New Access company later paid $2 million in fines.) When the state legislature opened a formal investigation into the matter, Pawlenty blocked it, refusing to appear at a hearing.
There was another scandal, too, and involving another of Pawlenty’s top donors. Frank Vennes was a convicted felon who, after released from prison, circulated with high-income Republicans; claiming he was born-again, Vennes raked in over $3 billion with an investment scandal. After Vennes gave him several thousands in campaign donations, Pawlenty personally requested a presidential pardon from George W. Bush for his friend and top donor. When Vennes was finally busted again in 2007, Pawlenty claimed he didn’t remember making the request.
These scandals don’t stop him from claiming a religious-right stance, though. For example, Pawlenty calls himself ?the most pro-life candidate.? He’s a pro-wealth politician, too, once vetoing a bill that called for higher state taxes on six-figure incomes. And like many who brand themselves as fiscal conservative, Pawlenty says that, to solve national debt, the government should make cuts to Social Security (even though it’s self-funded and is completely separate from the budget).
Pawlenty claimed to have eliminated a huge deficit in the state ($2.7 billion) with many budget cuts. Towards the end of his second term, though, he had to borrow so much to keep the state operating that he left Minnesota much worse off with a $5 billion deficit. In the money juggling, Pawlenty ? who had already cut public school funding by almost 15 percent while allowing charter schools to develop at the fastest rate of all states nationwide ? left schools subject to a loss of almost $60 million in revenue, and which they would have to make up for by themselves.
Deciding he wouldn’t run for re-election, Pawlenty left office in Jan. 2011 to become CEO of Financial Services Roundtable, a lobbying organization that represents clients like Bank of America and Wells Fargo. When not working on regular projects, like FSR’s fight against the Consumer Protection Act, Pawlenty’s still kept his hand in the waters of national politics. He was an early presidential candidate in 2012, for example, and he’s not ruled out a 2016 run, either.
But he wouldn’t have much luck, though, and not even in his home state. A recent poll says Hillary Clinton would take Minnesota’s electoral votes if she faced Pawlenty in the presidential race.
Visit Liberal America for information?on?the other?GOP 2016 hopefuls.
What’s your take on these?hypocritical Republicans? State your case on?Liberal America’s Facebook?page.
See previous posts on GOP 2016 hopefuls:
Kelly Ayotte??|?Haley Barbour?|??John Bolton?| ?Jeb Bush?|?Hermain Cain? |?Ben Carson?|??Chris Christie??| ?Ted Cruz??|?Mitch Daniels??| ?Newt Gingrich??| ?Nikki Haley?|?Mike Huckabee?|??Bobby Jindal?|?John Kasich?|?Peter King?|?Susana Martinez?|?Sarah Palin?|?Rand Paul?| ?Ron Paul ?|
