Where does Gov. Pawlenty fall on the Republican-Asshole-O-Meter?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

He's on the News Hour now and doesn't seem that offensive. I don't agree with him, but I don't feel like reaching through the teevee like I do when Shelby, Graham, Sessions, et al. are on.

[MinneapolisMatt]

1. I live in Minnesota.

A friend of mine used to work at the State Capital when he was a Senator.

He's a smug prick. I just can't stand him. He calls taxes "fees", so when he has to raise taxes, he says he didn't raise taxes, he added "fees".

Oh he's so slimy.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

6. Ah, interesting, thanks.

Being interviewed just now he didn't seem too slick, or crazy like Bachmann. Then again, I've never seen him perform on FUX...

[DJ13]

2. In the middle

[MinneapolisMatt]

3. Yeah...

He's not in Tom Delay territory, but he's still a jack-ass.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. He's one of those sneaky assholes.

When interviewed he seems friendly and affable, even downright reasonable. His assholery is not of the magnitude of, say, John Cornyn or Steven King or Duncan Hunter, but don't be fooled. Although he seems nice, he is nevertheless an asshole in the sense that he is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the rabid anti-tax, Grover Norquist contingent of the GOP. That freeway bridge that collapsed last year and killed a bunch of people? Thank Timmy for vetoing bills intended to fix that kind of stuff.

And he had his nose firmly embedded in John McCain's nether orifice for at least a year before the election, not that it did him any good. Around here we call him Timmy the Tool.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. That was helpful. I couldn't quite get a read with him...

unlike the visceral reaction I have with others.

[DesertFlower]

5. i know what you mean about reaching through

the teevee.

[kickysnana]

7. Old ferret face is a Eddie Haskel type. He ruined state agencies ie I35 bridge.

Education, Higher Education, Rest stops, Prisons, DNR etc

[WorseBeforeBetter]

9. LOL To "Eddie Haskel"...

not the other stuff!

[FiveGoodMen]

8. He's a worthless, no-new-taxes schmuck.

Not as offensive as some (in his delivery) but not a good guy.

[anonymous171]

11. From what I can gather, looks like one of the Mitt Romney-esque slimeballs. nt

[Deja Q]

12. Look at how he scribbles his budgets.

Shifting and other coy measures (nicking from cigarette law suit funds) for short term budgeting bandages, wants to keep cutting taxes each year and after that whine because of all-time-high budget deficits, ignores sundry fluff like "job creation" (which in turn would be genuine resolutions to revenue (tax) problems he seems to always find time to complain about), et al...

Cut funding to MnDOT (though in his defense, it's been said MN infrastructure has been neglected for a couple of decades. Pawlenty could have been a hero, but instead did nothing except think bridges can float on their own accord or something and cut MNDoT funding. More tax cuts to create those deficits for him to whine about.)

At least he was genuine after the 35W collapse.

But when it comes to government and maintenance expenditures, he's shown to be ill-effective.

Doesn't mean I don't like some of what he has to say. But a lot that he does say, especially regarding the budget, doesn't add up. Naivety? Pollyanna complex? Deliberate? Not the latter; even I saw genuine sympathy and a sense of genuine remorse after the bridge collapse.