politics

In a recent swing to Alabama, Gov. Tim Pawlenty played courier for Texas Republican millionaire Bob Perry, the man behind the anti-John Kerry swiftboat ads and Minnesota ads against a former Pawlenty rival.

"The donor's name was Bob Perry and he was somebody I was visiting in Texas on behalf of the Republican Governors Association and he noted that I was going to Alabama and asked if I would bring them a check so I said I would," Pawlenty said Tuesday.

Pawlenty delivered Parry's check -- for $100,000 -- during his visit to the Alabama Republican Party last week.

Pawlenty said Perry was the same donor who gave to the Stronger America campaign that contributed heavily to a campaigning blitz against Mike Hatch, the former attorney general and DFL gubernatorial candidate who came within a percentage point of unseating Pawlenty in 2006.

Pawlenty said he was in Texas in his capacity as vice chairman of the Republican Governors Association when Parry told him, "Look, they've asked me to give this contribution, would you deliver it to them?' Pawlenty's reply: "Sure."

Pawlenty said he had no other checks to deliver to Republican organizations. "I would love to deliver other checks ... but this one was just a coincidence," he said.

RACHEL E. STASSEN-BERGER

Looming over the southbound lanes of Interstate 35 in Wyoming, Minn., is a grinning portrait of former President George W. Bush, asking "Miss me yet?"

At a time when President Obama's approval ratings are cratering, the billboard appeared stealthily about a month ago and its appearance has been noted on political blogs ever since.

"It was put up by a group of small-business owners -- who want to stay anonymous -- because they felt Washington wasn't listening," said Mary McNamara, a spokeswoman for the company that owns the billboard. "They felt like it was a good way to get their message out." A Reuters blog noted on Jan. 21 that the same picture and wording was "making the rounds on Wall Street on Thursday, after President Obama proposed limiting big banks' financial risk-taking."

For the past two days, images of the billboard have raged virally across the Internet, with a Google search resulting in more than 100 million hits Tuesday.

The billboard came to broader attention after Minnesota Public Radio blogger Bob Collins took a photo of the billboard on Monday morning while cruising down the freeway.

McNamara said company officials were taken aback at the explosion of interest in the billboard, appearing everywhere from USA Today to the Huffington Post.

Told of the millions of hits that have erupted across the Internet, she replied, "Oh, my word -- that's amazing. I guess it just shows that billboards work."

BOB VON STERNBERG

State finance lovers can expect to see Pawlenty's supplemental budget by Friday or early next week.

The governor made the announcement at a news conference Tuesday. His staff has said the budget won't come before his final State of the State address Thursday. Pawlenty's budget is expected to show how he wants to slice $1.2 billion, the state's projected shortfall through the rest of the fiscal biennium.

Perhaps nobody will be more thrilled than Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller, DFL-Minneapolis, a regular critic of Pawlenty.

"We are asking for more trouble here if we don't make some significant decisions now," Pogemiller said.

BAIRD HELGESON