Fresh from playing down Tuesday night's faux presidential announcement on CNN, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty added another staffer to his growing political operation. With Iowa apparently on his mind, Pawlenty announced today the addition of ex-John McCain advisor Jon Seaton as national political director for his presidential exploratory committee. The move followed Monday's debut of campaign manager Nick Ayers, former executive director of the Republican Governors Association. Seaton, a veteran of the last two Republican presidential campaigns, currently runs East Meridian Strategies, a political consulting firm based in Alexandria, VA. Most important for Pawlenty, who's chances depend on a good showing in neighboring Iowa, Seaton ran McCain's Iowa operation in 2007, managing staff, coalitions, surrogate activity and candidate travel while also serving as the state's campaign spokesman. In 2006, Seaton worked for President Bush as Associate Director for Political Affairs. In that position, he was the primary White House liaison to Pawlenty's re-election campaign, as well as to Republican campaigns and organizations in 10 other states, including Iowa. The Pawlenty camp notes that Seaton's White House job is not his only experience in Iowa, home of the nation's first caucuses. In October of 2004, the Bush re-election campaign transferred him to Iowa, where he spent the last three weeks of the campaign overseeing Election Day strategy and GOTV activities. Earlier in his career, he managed a Congressional campaign in western Iowa.
