Pawlenty Whacks Sanford: "Troubling And Hypocritical"

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) offered one of the harshest rebukes from within the Republican Party of Mark Sanford, suggesting on Sunday that the South Carolina governor was hypocritical and had damaged the GOP at a time when the brand was already hurting.

"It's hard to quantify [the damage he has done]," said Pawlenty. "But clearly there has been damage. Any time you have leading figures who are engaged in behavior that's sad and troubling and hypocritical other people are going to look at that and say, 'Hmmm, they don't walk the walk. And so the words and the actions don't ring true."

Later in his segment on CNN's "State of the Union," Pawlenty would not push back against suggestions that Sanford had been directly derelict in his duties when he traveled to Argentina to conduct his affair. "Your staff has to be able to reach you and reach you quickly," Pawlenty said. "He should not have left the state and not allowed people to know how to contact him if something happened. That's obvious."

Both Pawlenty and Sanford have been discussed as possible contenders for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Sanford, naturally, has dropped from that discussion after his admission of marital misconduct. Still, it was curious to see Pawlenty take a shot at his gubernatorial compatriot. Other Republicans have either avoided the Sanford topic altogether or framed the issue as a personal, not professional, miscue.

But the Minnesota Republican didn't just slap Sanford on the wrist for leaving the state to meet his mistress. He also applauded Sanford's wife for not appearing alongside him during his emotional and lengthy press conference in which he confessed to and apologized for the matter.

"It's a sad and troubling situation with Jenny and Mark Sanford. I know them. I'm proud of Jenny for her strength and her commitment to her family and keeping that family together. Frankly, I was glad to see her not standing at the press conference like many have, and kind of charting her own path. Saying, look, I'm willing to forgive him, but I'm not going to stand here and condone this in any way."

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Comments

[ThinkCreeps]

Of course, marital intercourse wise, both Pawlenty and Sanford are doing about as well

[proggirl]

Pawlenty recently announced that he would not seek a third term as Gov. the hot money locally is that he's preening for a Pres or VP run.
Watch out for this guy, folks. He's sneaky and plays dirty, even for a Repub.
And BTW, it's the law that dictates Franken can't be seated until the challenge is resolved, not Pawlenty holding out. Pawlenty's done enough to be blamed for on his own. That one really isn't his fault, at least not at this point.

[wwoody]

this make you wonder what else the Governor is hiding in his closet , you better dust for finger prints

[MED1025]

I can't wait to see what skeleton comes walking out of his closet. The Republican party puts any reality show on TV to shame. You can't make this stuff up.

[grace14]

But he has nothing to say about Republican, lies, cursing, slandering, others with their vile words toward others? And republicans call themselves christians?

[freethinkergirl]

This is one scary christian who will turn our public schools into christian "training" centers, instead of leaving it to the churches where it belongs. Our founding fathers are probably rolling over in their graves. Here is a scary statement:

GOV. PAWLENTY: We've said in Minnesota, in my view, this is a local decision. Intelligent design is something that, in my view, is plausible and credible and something that I personally believe in but, more importantly, from an educational and scientific standpoint, it should be decided by local school boards at the local school district level.

[learntofly]

Scary, indeed. How did this joker get elected in the first place?

Fanned and favorited.

[janpradder]

Pawlenty is a creep and a shark. He should make sure justice is done but he is playing political games in his state.
I wonder what cowebs this guy has in his closet, can't wait till they come out.

[Anare]

He is too boring to have skeletons in his closet. That is why he can sit there on CNN and spout off about a colleague. Nice attempt Tim, but it doesn't make you any more likeable.

[lazercat2008]

Takes one to know one.

[chronic]

"Troubling And Hypocr!t!cal"?

Hey, its the G O P way!

[Poorsarah]

Pawlenty..­.usually, not always, but usually, people who are the first ones to start hurling stones are not on the up&up themselves. Now I am curious as to what Pawlenty is hiding???

[ckfan]

Pawlenty is just glad there's one less competitor for him to run against. Next, he"ll whack Palin on her knee caps.

[dennissinned]

Casting a stone on another person is never a good thing. Before you know it, you find yourself in the midst of it all. Infidelity is a human frailty that is not unique to any political party.

[dollbaby]

what' that line about glass houses?

I think he's just talking up his presidential run.

[FlamingLibrul]

What's also troubling Gov. Pawlenty, is your insistence on pretending to be a reasonable, decent human being. Let go of your own hypocrisy and allow Minnesota to seat the Senator they voted for.

[mayan2012]

yessssssss!!!!!!!!!

[ckfan]

good point.

[From the Raft]

That whole situation deserves some investigation. This isn't Iran, but it looks like there was an attempt to steal the election. Just what did the governor do and was it legal?

[FlamingLibrul]

I absolutely agree- the GOP was as desperate as Coleman to hold onto that Senate seat. The dirty repug tricks from Florida and Ohio were attempted during the ballot recount process, and they still refuse to accept the outcome. Enough is enough already.

[dst1]

Yes, Yes, Yes.

[dissanayake]

You Republicans should get a life, and stop lying to the public. Who would believe that GOvenor Scumford planned a ten day trip to Argentina, to break -Up with his Mistress. Gimme a break.
Dont take us for fools, Republican Govenors. Take care of your own marraiges,morals and religon before you lecture us about ours.

[carljr]

Well, Tim at least his state has two United States Senators. It's a shame CNN forgot to question Pawlenty's hyporicsy.

[mayan2012]

yessssssss­sssssss!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!

[From the Raft]

CNN forgets to question a lot of things. Their journalists can't see or think beyond their noses.

[Kristin262]

What happened to the mullet, Governor Pawlenty? It was so presidential. Bring it back, eh?