Pawlenty struggles to step out of Bachmann’s shadow - The Washington Post

SOUTH ST. PAUL, Minn. —
Tim Pawlenty and Michele Bachmann are staying true to type in the spat that has broken out between their presidential campaigns: He offers a cautious slap over her lack of executive experience, and she smacks back with dramatic comparisons between him and President Obama.

This is more or less how it’s always been for the two lawmakers from Minnesota, where Bachmann’s passion and conviction outshone Pawlenty’s more cautious, methodical ways from the moment she stormed the state legislature nearly a decade ago.

Then, as now, Pawlenty said he was conservative, yet Bachmann seemed to say it more loudly. He talked about his faith, and she talked about it more. He said he was a true believer, but Bachmann was somehow more believable.

“Michele is very passionate, very much a go-getter, and Tim in his own way has charisma as well on a personal level,” said Tom Prichard, president of the Minnesota Family Council. “But I think he just conveys it differently than Michele does in terms of his passion and concern on the issues. It’s just different.”

That dynamic is now playing out at a critical moment for both on the presidential campaign trail, where, despite years of preparation and high hopes within national GOP circles, Pawlenty has struggled to take hold. After about a month of campaigning, meanwhile, Bachmann has rocketed past all contenders, save front-runner Mitt Romney.

Their trajectories are set to collide at next month’s Ames Straw Poll in Iowa, an early test of strength in a state critical to both their presidential ambitions. With Romney sitting out the event, the straw poll is largely turning into a question of which Minnesotan Iowans prefer.

The challenge for Pawlenty is translating his accomplishments into the kind of passionate support that comes so naturally to Bachmann, particularly among an electorate more apt to respond to tea party calls to action than establishment support.

It has been difficult for him on the presidential trail, where he continues to lag in all public polls. And it was difficult for him in Minnesota, where he won two terms as governor without gaining 50 percent of the vote and where, even in his home town, voters struggle to feel a connection.

Republicans are not so easy to find in South St. Paul, the blue-collar town where Pawlenty grew up. But even among a group of beer-sipping conservatives gathered around the bar stools in the basement of the old Croatian Hall, opinion is mixed about the former governor.

“Between Bachmann and Pawlenty, I would definitely take Bachmann,” said Jim Kammerer, 64, a retired painter. “I think he’s gone more to the right since he’s been on the presidential campaign, but he’s not convincing to me.”

Dick Mason, 74, a retired truck driver, remembers Pawlenty’s dad, Gene, who was his boss. “He was a wonderful guy,” Mason said. “But that’s a different kind of story for me.”

But part-time cook Brian Williams, 49, saw more of what the Pawlenty campaign hopes voters will see. “People have said, ‘You know, he’s weak.’ What is he weak on? He held the state together, didn’t raise any taxes. I like him, I like his ideals, I like his direction. Honestly, I feel it’s his time.”