Pawlenty vs. Range battle running hotter

More evidence of increasingly difficult relations between Gov. Tim Pawlenty and the Iron Range legislative delegation. This story is from today’s Duluth News-Tribune:

ST. PAUL — House Majority Leader Tony Sertich says Gov. Tim Pawlenty erased $1.5 million in state construction projects from his district as revenge for comments he made about the Republican governor.

The Chisholm Democrat told reporters Friday that on March 14 a Pawlenty staff member called with what he said was a message from the governor: “I have a hockey analogy for you. Cheap shots are cheap, but they are not free.”

Sertich said the staffer went on to say that Pawlenty threatened to veto projects in Sertich’s northeastern Minnesota district. Earlier that day, Sertich had criticized Pawlenty for not working with legislators.

Pawlenty’s spokesman complained that Sertich went public with the conversation, but he did not deny the call took place.

“When speaking with Rep. Sertich, no one on our staff linked projects in the bonding bill to any comments made regarding the relative value of cheap shots,” spokesman Brian McClung said.

McClung appeared upset that Sertich talked about the call.

“This was not a threat against me,” he said. “It was a threat to veto projects. … He takes it out on the people of northern Minnesota.”

Sertich said he thought Pawlenty singled him out because Minnesota Public Radio quoted him as criticizing the governor about being not engaged in the legislative process. Those comments followed a report spelling out Pawlenty’s frequent out-of-state trips.

The bonding projects in question were all in Sertich’s district. Confidential to John McCain: Pick Pawlenty as your VP candidate … we need to get him out this state.

Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    You know, if Pawlenty had chosen to single out Rukavina or Thomassoni, he would have looked less foolish. Then, such a phone call wouldn’t have caused embarrassment. Take on Tony Sertich? Give me a break!

    It’s time to clean house at the governor’s residence. And I don’t want him to be picked for the VP slot, though from the Republican perspective he’d be a natural choice. On the other hand, nobody who is talked about this early typically gets the nod. I say he’ll be passed over, and, like a fart in the breeze, he’ll gradually disappear.

  2. Great point. I don’t know why he’s picking fights like this with one of the one of the two or three Range legislators capable of high-level negotation skills. Maybe that’s the message he wants to send. No negotiation. I guess I see why Tony went public with it.

    Your comments on the VP issue are also well taken, but we then have to try to pass a 2009 budget with this guy right as his political career has begun to sink. Not a pretty time in the life of a middle aged politician. 🙂

    Or, to be even more philsophical, does a fart in the breeze know that it’s blowing away?

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