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Dems' campaign targets Pawlenty
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The Democratic National Committee has launched a new campaign against high-profile Republicans and has made Gov. Tim Pawlenty its first target.
Taking its cue from President Obama, who said last week "we will call you out" on misrepresentations of his health care overhaul plan, the "Call 'Em Out" campaign began today.
It begins the same day Pawlenty travels to Washington, D.C., for a Values Voters Summit, where he and other potential 2012 GOP presidential candidates will speak.
The DNC's campaign focuses on Pawlenty's frequent criticisms of Obama's plan, saying he "recently claimed that health reform will lead to death panels."
Although Pawlenty doesn't use those words, in one TV appearance, he said, "let's just be clear that this bill might affect end-of-life decisions, taking away people's rights to make those decisions."
The DNC calls on supporters to "set the record straight about Pawlenty's lies by calling him out on Facebook or Twitter. Expose his shameful tactics to his constituents in Minnesota by funding our ad campaign."
The committee then calls on supporters to call Pawlenty's office at the state Capitol directly.
Pawlenty political adviser Alex Conant dismissed the campaign.
"Seriously, why is the DNC's attack squad so obsessed with T-Paw recently?" he wrote in an e-mail. "The DNC's attacks are a transparent attempt to avoid a serious discussion with Governor Pawlenty and other Republicans over how to fix health care. Rather than blindly trying to undermine Pawlenty, national Democrats could learn something from his record of balancing budgets and reforming health care without raising taxes."
Pawlenty's national profile in the GOP has been rapidly rising this summer as he has crisscrossed the country, in effect, introducing himself to the party's rank and file.
In addition to his appearance in Washington tonight and one in Ohio Saturday, he will speak at the South Dakota Republican Party's annual dinner next month, the party announced today.
It's not only Democrats who have taken note of his new prominence. In today's Washington Post, the newspaper's political blog named Pawlenty the second most influential leader in the GOP, behind only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who is also widely seen as preparing for a 2012 presidential run.
"Give Tpaw credit," the paper's blogger wrote. "He recognized that he had to quickly get moving if he wanted to emerge as a national leader, and he has done just that. Pawlenty has been somewhere close to ever-present on cable chat shows."
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Current state office holders
Governor: Tim Pawlenty
One of only a few prominent Republicans to win a competitive re-election contest in the Democratic sweep of 2006, Tim Pawlenty is widely seen as politically shrewd and naturally likable.
- Lt. Governor: Carol Molnau
- Secretary of State: Mark Ritchie
- Attorney General: Lori Swanson
- State Auditor: Rebecca Otto
Minnesota's political giants: Learn more about the men and women who have shaped Minnesota's political history.
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