Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign has had a rough few weeks, but he got a journalistic upper-cut to the jaw this week from a respected, longtime, political columnist who proclaimed his bid all but dead.

Walter Shapiro, writing in the New Republic, unspooled a long profile about T-Paw, headlined, "The Tragedy of Tim Pawlenty -- He did everything right. And that was the problem."

Shapiro's conclusion:

The whole thing, well worth reading, can be found here.