Tim Pawlenty

Governor Tim Pawlenty, Republican of Minnesota, who, if this blog's fearless prediction comes true, will be John McCain's running mate, made a much-talked-about speech at Washington's National Press Club yesterday.

Here is Andrew Sullivan's take on it. At a time when the presidential campaign is taking a decidedly more negative tone, Pawlenty spoke up for positive campaigning.

The strange thing about that is that, normally, presidential candidates delegate to their running mates the task of negative campaigning. That way, a would-be president can appear to be above the fray, while still ensuring that a negative message about the opponent will be effectively communicated.

Perhaps after Pawlenty, or whoever, is actually nominated, that relationship will be put right-side-up.

UPDATE: The New York Times has weighed in on Gov. Pawlenty's place in the veepstakes. It seems as though the slightly off-color remark about the Pawlentys' marriage with which Monica Davey began her story may be working to Pawlenty's advantage, by splashing a bit of color on his otherwise low-key personality.

Davey notes that the attack-dog campaign mode is foreign to Pawlenty's style. We'll see what that means in terms of whether he'll be chosen and, if so, how he'll campaign.

FURTHER UPDATE: Home town pride. The Star Tribune, a Minneapolis-based newspaper, notes how its state's governor has made the big time. I'm reminded of a long-ago media splash by another hockey-playing governor.