Pawlenty is back to the business of being governor

That was then: Gov. Tim Pawlenty jetting across the country for weeks, stumping for John McCain, the national press corps keeping him in its sights just in case the Republican presidential candidate tapped him as his running mate.

This is now: Pawlenty touring a wind turbine factory in Pipestone, in southwestern Minnesota, on Friday, followed by a chamber of commerce get-together in Marshall.

What a difference a couple of weeks make.

For months, Pawlenty has maintained a parallel track existence, alternately wearing hats as Minnesota's governor and as one of McCain's most reliable campaign surrogates. An examination of his schedules in recent weeks shows that his public presidential campaign role far overshadowed his public appearances in his day job.

But that has changed considerably in the past week, as his official appearances have once again taken center stage.

His resumed travels this week "are typical in the fall as he does a fair amount of getting around the state" in preparation for the upcoming legislative session, said Pawlenty's spokesman Brian McClung.

Between July 24 and Friday, Pawlenty's official schedule showed what it calls "no public events" or listed only his weekly radio show on 29 days.

He traveled to nine states and the District of Columbia for appearances on McCain's behalf, in addition to uncounted appearances on cable TV and radio talk shows.

While he has continued to do a few of the latter, his last big appearance on McCain's behalf occurred on the final night of the Republican National Convention, when he delivered warmup remarks before McCain's acceptance speech.

It was Pawlenty's high-water mark after more than a year as he worked as one of the national cochairs of McCain's campaign.

After he began hitting the trail for the Arizona senator, sometimes at the senator's side, buzz began building about his vice-presidential prospects.

That buzz escalated to a fever pitch a couple of weeks ago, with Pawlenty seen as the odds-on front-runner -- until McCain unveiled his totally unexpected choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

In the aftermath, Pawlenty was gracious, saying that he was grateful even to be considered and that it was time to get back to business as governor.

By the time he broadcast his radio show on WCCO on Friday morning, he was back to previewing next year's legislative session, talking at length about the need to keep both taxes and government spending down.

The only reminder of the frenzy over the vice presidency that subsided just two weeks ago came when a caller, in the midst of praising Pawlenty, told him that he was glad he's here, instead of out on the trail with McCain.

In the seven weeks remaining in the race, McCain campaign strategists plan to keep deploying Pawlenty to talk up the Republican ticket, a spokesman said.

It's striking that in the course of three days this week, by hitting Duluth, Winona, Rochester, Pipestone and Marshall, Pawlenty appeared in more Minnesota cities than he did in the entire month of August.

Asked about the thinness of his public schedule during a McCain campaign appearance last month, Pawlenty said he was keeping up with the state's business in private meetings and via phone calls.

McClung said the governor's official lack of visibility this summer "is probably in the same range as other election-year summers. [It matched] the ebb and flow of activity this time of year."