Some people were scratching their heads after hearing excerpts of former Gov. Tim Pawlenty's pitch this week to members of the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition, an early cattle call for the GOP's presumed presidential aspirants.
Pawlenty, always proud of his roots as a blue-collar son of South St. Paul, sounded more like he hailed from the back woods of the Deep South.
The Washington Post's Dana Milbank deconstructed Pawlenty's speaking style, writing that he's "campaigning as if he's some sort of Southern preacher. At the Faith & Freedom event, he was dropping g's all over the place, using "ain't" instead of "isn't," and adding a syrup to his vowels not indigenous to Minnesota."
Milbank's skewering of Pawlenty can be read here.
It comes just a couple of days after the National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru all but anointed his candidacy in a fullblown profile titled "Pawlenty to Like." That piece can be read here.
