Tim Pawlenty Admits Mistake in Not Going After Mitt Romney During Debate

video

by Josh Feldman | 1:10 pm, June 17th, 2011

» 21 comments

Minnesota governor and 2012 presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty appeared on Hannity last night to talk about his debate performance Monday. Many believed he missed an opportunity to go after Mitt Romney for his past health care positions, and Pawlenty conceded he could have been more aggressive in making that point during the debate.

On Fox News Sunday, Pawlenty criticized Romney for setting up a health care system in Massachusetts that he argues directly led to the health care plan passed under the Obama administration, coining the term “Obamneycare.” The next day, Pawlenty was asked to comment on his position during the debate, but he slightly backtracked, arguing he was using Obama’s words in making the comparison.

Last night, Sean Hannity opened the interview by telling Pawlenty that he thought the candidates were correct in going after President Obama’s policies rather than sniping at each other, and asked the governor what he thought of all the criticism.

Pawlenty didn’t mince words; he admitted he could have been more aggressive in going after Romney’s record.

I should have been much more clear during the debate, Sean. I don’t think we can have a nominee that was involved in the development and construction of Obamacare and then continues to defend it.

That was the question, I should have answered it directly. Instead I stayed focused on President Obama, but the question really related to the contrast with Governor Romney, and I should have been more clear. I should have made the point that he was involved in developing it, he really laid the groundwork for Obamacare and continues to this day to defend it.

I think that’s a legitimate response to the question I was asked, and I should have been more clear.

Hannity momentarily played devil’s advocate and asked Pawlenty if he agreed with Romney that health care mandates worked at the state level, but not at the federal level. Pawlenty upped the ante by labeling Romney a “co-conspirator” in Obama’s health care plan, and claiming that both plans are very identical. He also expressed concerns that if Romney won the GOP nomination, this would be a major problem for him going forward.

Watch the interview here, courtesy of Fox News:

2012, barack obama, debate, Mitt Romney, Sean Hannity, Tim Pawlenty

mikey970

timmy has proved he is a wimp…he can talk the the talk..on fox news…..no walk in a debate….WHIMP
Nacho

Pawlenty comes off as the biggest little weasel of the whole lot.

You can’t even dislike the guy, you just feel embarrassed or him.
THE REAL ROYAL KING

mikey970 said:
timmy has proved he is a wimp…he can talk the the talk..on fox news…..no walk in a debate….WHIMP

FOX “News” may prove to be something of an anathema for several of the candidates. They go into this protective, nurturing cocoon, and then they can’t play in the real world with all of the mean boys. Romney does well not to nurse at that teat.
Bill Huggins

YEPYEP

TPaw wiffed it. If he can’t stand up to Romney; what makes you think he could stand up to Obama, let alone China, Russia, etc. etc.

But, IT SURE WAS HILARIOUS WATCHING HIM WALK IT BACK

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHANAHAHA
LOGICandREASON

I like Pawlenty, but I admire men and women with spine and fire in their bones like Christie, Palin and even Trump

You CANNOT WIN Obama in 2012 with a demeanor of Pawlenty’s kind; even though he was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and actually the Majority Leader of the House, and later served 8 years as Governor of Minnesota, the Liberal mainstream media will exploit his Vanilla demeanor and try to make Obama look more like the man while portraying Pawlenty like the Boy because he seems unable to come out aggressive as Obama was in 2008.

In any case, Obama is doomed for failure come 2012, and his loyal media cant spin this one so easily like they did during the “hope” and “change” campaign of 2008.
felixw

The latest New Hampshire poll shows Romney with 42% and no other Republican candidate with more than 10%

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57191.html

Yet Romney still gets less coverage in the liberal media than Palin, Trump, Bachmann, Newt, etc. And why? That’s easy to answer: the more the liberal media fears a candidate, the less they want to talk about him. But Romney isn’t going away. Romney is a serious challenger, with smarts, gravitas and a great ability to raise funds. Note to the liberal media: if you pretend he doesn’t exist, this won’t make him disappear.

By the way, today’s Gallup poll shows that Obama is now losing to a generic Republican. Even with no specific candidate named, Obama only gets picked by 39% of the respondents. I guess showing that LONG FORM BIRTH CERTIFICATE didn’t seal the deal with voters, the way the liberal commenters here on Mediate thought it would.
Paul G

I don’t know who the LSM is gonna pick for ‘our’ candidate, but I hope Bachmann WILL be at least a VP……
Palin/Bachmann!!!!
Nacho

Paul G said:
I don’t know who the LSM is gonna pick for ‘our’ candidate, but I hope Bachmann WILL be at least a VP……
Palin/Bachmann!!!!

It’s Romeny, dipshit.
Paul G

Nacho said:
It’s Romeny, dipshit.

Nacho, unfortunately you’re probably right
seek

the main stream media will pick the one they think has no chance against Obama. They’ll flog it to death and hope they convince the Republicans to vote their way. They’ll build them up and start tearing down the ones they really fear.
Paul G

seek said:
the main stream media will pick the one they think has no chance against Obama. They’ll flog it to death and hope they convince the Republicans to vote their way. They’ll build them up and start tearing down the ones they really fear.

Levin is right…an orange juice can could beat Omoron…
cjd ohio 1

he pussed out, enough said
WillP

LOGICandREASON said:
I like Pawlenty, but I admire men and women with spine and fire in their bones like Christie, Palin and even Trump

You CANNOT WIN Obama in 2012 with a demeanor of Pawlenty’s kind

I dispute the premise that Trump and Palin are serious candidates. I call them celebrity candidates. Their negatives are far too high to win enough independent voters in a general election. But, you are right on with Pawlenty. As someone else said in this thread, he comes off as a weasel. Yep. That’s the stain on his image that he is attempting to rub away from Monday night. And I believe it is valid unfortunately for him. He can be tough on Fox News and internet videos, but he lacks a tough backbone in the heat of the moment. I still can’t believe that he was unable to confront Romney in the debate. He was afraid of doing so. Expect him to actually go forcefully against Romney in the next debate. It might appear desperate and contrived. I like Pawlenty, but it is very hard to see his path to the nomination. I wouldn’t be surprised if even Herman Cain beats him in the Iowa caucus.
TeaPartyNation

“Tim Pawlenty Admits Mistake in Not Going After Mitt Romney During Debate”

..is that the kind of judgment skill one wants in the person who controls America’s nuclear arsenal as Commander-in-Chief? I think not. Pawlenty – who supported the d-cRAT socialist CAP-and-TAX atrocity before he flipped and supported obozo-rail before he flopped – has displayed similar characteristics of UTTER AND COMPLETE FAILURE that “YOU LIE!” obozo shows every minute of every day.
Yoda002

Pawlenty wants to be Romney’s running mate.
The Voice of Reason

THE REAL ROYAL KING said:
FOX “News” may prove to be something of an anathema for several of the candidates. They go into this protective, nurturing cocoon, and then they can’t play in the real world with all of the mean boys. Romney does well not to nurse at that teat.

lol maybe if they weren’t actually pressed by Chris Wallace your assertion would be true. But since its not it just looks biased, and silly.
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dougx

The msm is so predictable. Already, they are organizing every candidate against their most feared Republican – Romney. It’s so transparent. Let’s see if everyone plays along with the charade and if Romney can handle it. My guess is the Rs will see what’s going on and realize they are being suckered.
Sanders Youth

If I were running the TPaw campaign all I would do is run this video as my next ad. He will secure the nomination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9IJUkYUbvI

The Real Romney?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bruce-Kennedy/1439463341 Bruce Kennedy

A non-story, Pawlenty will not be the Republican nominee, so in essence whatever Pawlenty says is meaningless.
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