Pawlenty struggles to step out of Bachmann’s shadow

The tiff between Pawlenty and Bachmann began over the weekend, when Pawlenty — gently — criticized Bachmann. “These are really serious times, and there hasn’t been somebody who went from the U.S. House of Representatives to the presidency, I think, in over a hundred years, and there’s a reason for that,” Pawlenty told CNN’s Candy Crowley.

It wasn’t the first time Pawlenty had taken a soft swipe at his opponent. But this time, Bachmann fired back. “Governor Pawlenty said in 2006, ‘The era of small government is over. ... The government has to be more proactive and more aggressive,’ ” Bachmann said in a rebuttal statement to Pawlenty’s remarks. “That’s the same philosophy that, under President Obama, has brought us record deficits, massive unemployment and an unconstitutional health-care plan.”

 

The Pawlenty campaign followed with a much harsher critique than his first one, and he criticized Bachmann again at an appearance Monday in Davenport Iowa, saying that “there is a big difference between talking about things and getting them done. And so she and I have fought for many of the same issues, we have fought the same fights. But she hasn’t won. I have.”

Bachmann’s team continued the argument with this statement: “There is very little difference between Governor Pawlenty’s past positions and Barack Obama’s positions on several critical issues facing Americans.”

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Bachmann, 55, ran for the state legislature in 2000 largely to oppose a new set of education standards that conservatives across Minnesota opposed. She was an ardent advocate for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. She was also a leading voice in support of a taxpayer bill of rights that would have limited growth in government.

As a lawmaker and then governor, Pawlenty, 50, supported these initiatives, too. He is viewed as an ally by many of the state’s conservative leaders — including Prichard, who says the same of Bachmann and is staying out of the presidential primary.

But it was Bachmann, not Pawlenty, who made a name for herself championing these issues. From the moment she walked onto the state political stage — wearing jeans and a sweatshirt at a GOP convention in 2000, where she shocked the political establishment by defeating a 28-year incumbent — no one, not even her detractors, has doubted her authenticity.

“Make no mistake about Michele Bachmann,” said Roger Moe, a former Democratic lawmaker who ran for governor and lost to Pawlenty in 2002. “She believes it and voted it and lives it. That’s it. There’s no question of where she’s coming from because she’s always been there.”

Bachmann was also unafraid to take on Pawlenty directly, as she did during his first year as governor by challenging his proposal to establish certain tax-free zones across the state to spur economic growth. Much like her leadership style today, however, Bachmann didn’t do it by building coalitions in the legislature or working within the system; she did it by giving fiery speeches to outside groups — evangelical Christians, anti-tax advocates — most likely to support her.