You might have thought, faithful reader, that to say something nice about Tim Pawlenty I'd have to be quoting my mother. But see if this counts. By trading Tim Pawlenty for Rick Perry, the Republicans managed over the weekend to increase the batshit-bonkers to sober ratio in their Presidential Sweepstakes.
No? Pawlenty's grip on reality is stronger than that of either of the people who finished ahead of him in the Iowa straw poll.
Come on! Give it to me me! He's never spoken wistfully of seceding from the Union, like Perry. He blames Obama for not having led the country out of the fetid swamp he found it in, which distinguishes him from Ron Paul, who thinks it is not the job of the federal government to solve any of the country's problems. And, compared to Michele Bachmann, he is well-spoken, well-informed, and well-married.
I have to believe it's going to be Romney. He's acceptable to the party establishment. I've been listening to the man-on-the-street interviews among the Republican rank-and-file in Iowa, so I know they are loons, but there are so many loons for them to choose from! For well-dressed country-club types who aren't sure their daughters and mistresses shouldn't be able to get an abortion, there's no alternative to Romney. It'll put him over the top.
