THE FRONT-RUNNER:

Tim Pawlenty budget a GOP model (Ben Smith, 5/17/10, Politico)

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's final budget, completed early Monday morning over the protests of angry Democrats and passed in a special session of the state legislature later in the day, positions the 2012 Republican presidential hopeful as the embodiment of conservative governance in hard economic times.

Pawlenty appears to have run the table on the Democratic majorities in both of the houses of the legislature, forcing them to drop plans for new surcharges and scrap their top priority, an expansion of federal and state-funded health care for some of the state's poor. They also enacted spending cuts that a court recently ruled Pawlenty could not make himself.

He will complete his two-term tenure at the end of this year having fulfilled his pledge not to raise taxes, with his approval ratings in positive territory, and having largely avoided the pragmatic compromises that often bedevil governors in polarized party primaries. His success gives him the accomplishments to match his conservative rhetoric, and set a high bar for other ambitious governors facing budget crises of their own in this lean year.

Unless Jeb announces, Mr. Pawlenty has to be considered the favorite for the nomination. He's got it all working for him--a governor, a conservative, an Evangelical, proximity to IA and no cracker accent, so he can carry NH.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 18, 2010 6:18 AM