Promoting civility as a plus, Pawlenty hopes nice guys don’t finish last

Throughout the tour promoting his new memoir, Courage to Stand, Tim
Pawlenty has been faced with one of the fiercer criticisms waged against
his potential White House candidacy — that he’s not fiercer.

The common question is whether the former Minnesota governor is “too nice,” as conservative talk-show host Elisabeth Hasselbeck asked him last week, or, simply, not dynamic enough, as The Washington Post wondered when it interviewed him.

{mosads}Pawlenty’s answers now are a likely preview of how he’ll reply if he joins the rest of the GOP field onstage for the presidential debates later this year.

The Nice Thing

One way Pawlenty has dealt with the charge is by turning it on its head and suggesting amity is not a liability, but actually a strength. When Hasselbeck questioned his political disposition, he quickly turned to Ronald Reagan for vindication.

“People shouldn’t confuse being nice or thoughtful or civil with being strong,” he said. “What were the lessons of Reagan? He had strong views, but he presented himself in a civil, thoughtful, decent, kind manner. There were almost no instances where Ronald Reagan yelled, screamed, judged, condemned.”

It’s a good comparison for Pawlenty, because every 2012 candidate wants to draw some kind of link with Reagan. But it’s potentially risky, since it gives voters such a generous invitation to contrast Pawlenty — who has struggled to connect on the stump — with The Great Communicator — who never lacked for audience rapport. 

But promoting civility as a political plus runs another risk. Quite simply, it seems to be out of step with the current zeitgeist. Bipartisan calls for more temperate political discourse in the wake of the Arizona shootings have been effective, except for one thing — many of those calls have been shouts and mere reminders that each side thinks the other needs to shush without holding itself to the same standard.

In this environment, it’s questionable whether Pawlenty’s appeal for a more civil discussion will stir the primary voters he needs to win. Nevertheless, he’s shown hints on the tour that it’s a gamble he might be willing to make.

Take his approach to Sarah Palin’s controversial crosshairs map — throughout the tour, he’s used it to draw a contrast between the alleged political provocations of Palin and his own, less confrontational style. 

In three high-profile media stops, Pawlenty took care to absolve Palin’s map of any responsibility in the shootings, while still rebuking the image itself.

He told The New York Times, flatly, “I wouldn’t have done it.” 

One day later, he repeated the sentiment during an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” saying “it wouldn’t have been my style to put the crosshairs on there.”

He provided his fullest criticism of the crosshairs map to date on MSNBC, framing the issue in both moral and political terms.

“You know, I stayed home in the blue state of Minnesota. I’m a conservative. I’ve spent a lot of time reaching out to independents and conservative Democrats, and so I try to do that in a way that’s strong and clear, but you know, doesn’t repel people or doesn’t push them away.”

He then added, “It’s not my style.”

“It’s not my style” might prove to be a concession to months of diagnoses from political pundits and, perhaps, some political self-reflection. 

The Charisma Thing

Pawlenty has generally responded to questions about his charisma with an adroit two-step. First, he uses humor, which — by definition — redresses some of the charisma gap. Last week, he told The Washington Post that with the exception of Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee, “there aren’t exactly a bunch of Lady Gagas” in the 2012 field.

He also dryly told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “If you look at the top leaders of the Republican Party, I’m at least in range on the excitement meter.”

The second way he deflects the charisma gap is by framing a choice for the potential Republican voter: Would you rather nominate someone who can talk well, or one who can govern well? In these economically troubled times, he’s betting the voter chooses the latter.

On his book tour last week, Pawlenty told ABC that some might think a successful presidential candidate needs to “have some novelty,” but in reality, voters are looking for something different.

“I’ve got a great record, and I think I’ve got a good heart. I think I understand what the country needs, and I think I can help.”

And during an interview with Fox, he performed the two-step in two sentences.

“We’ve seen sizzle in the current president … [but] there’s other times when substance and track record and results are more important, and right now, I’d put my record up against any governor in the country.”

Republicans commonly claim that voters put too much emphasis on charisma in 2008 when they elected President Obama. Tim Pawlenty appears to be offering them a chance to renegotiate.

Heinze, the founder of GOP12.com, is a member of staff at The Hill.  Find his column, GOP Presidential Primary, on digital-staging.thehill.com