Gov. Tim Pawlenty will continue his around the country tour of Republican organizations with a planned late February trip to St. Charles, Missouri. He'll speak at the Missouri Republican Party's Lincoln Days dinner on Feb. 26.
On Feb. 5, he'll speak to Alabama Republicans at that state's GOP winter meeting. Pawlenty is also expected to speak at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans in April.
All the travel seems to be paying off, not in name recognition among the general public, (polls still find no one knows who he is) but in kind words from some GOP power that be. Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, who has said kind things about Pawlenty's 2012 presidential chances before, called the governor a fresh face who could fit the conservative mold the party needs today on National Public Radio.
But before all that he'll raise some cash for his political action committee -- the Freedom First PAC -- in Minnesota. On January 19, a the PAC will have a cocktail party at Minneapolis' Chambers Hotel with tickets going from $250 for hosts to $25 for students. The hosts include lots of young (and youngish) Republican names in Minnesota, including GOP staffers Michael Brodkorb and Mark Drake, operatives Ben Golnik, Matt Burns and Shanna Woodbury and blogger Luke Heller.
He'll also have a higher dollar reception at St. Paul's O'Gara's on January 21. Tickets for that are $250.
