Less than three days before the straw poll that could make or break his presidential campaign, Tim Pawlenty struggled to fill a room.
Only about two dozen people showed up on Wednesday to hear him speak at Cronk’s.... His long-shot rival, Atlanta businessman Herman Cain, drew a spillover crowd there two days ago.
Time for T-Paw to start campaigning in earnest.
One more note: Reinhard's piece has a county GOP chair promising that T-Paw's "shoe-leather should pay off."
Ever since the beginning, Pawlenty's had no problem picking up support. Strike that. He's had no problem picking up support from county GOP chairs, elected representatives, city councilmen, city clerks.
But among actual voters?
True, shoe-leather matters to county GOP chairs, who get great photo-ops and national figures alighting upon their realms, but shoe-leather doesn't seem to matter quite as much to voters -- even famously demanding Iowans whom lore suggests want to get five personal calls from a candidate before even putting a bumper sticker on their cars.
Tim Pawlenty's campaign, thus far, has been like an art-house film without the art.
The powers that be say "You should see it. He's got everything, there are no gaping holes, and, sure, it might be a little slow, but you're tired of special effects and actors flapping their jaws, right?"
Maybe so, but No Country for Old Men kind of sucked. It's a guy with a cut, walking around the desert in a "cat-and-mouse game." Cinderella had a more interesting cat-and-mouse game.
[Hat tip: Jonathan Martin]
