Pawlenty, 47, is an early McCain supporter who won the Minnesota governorship in 2002, after saying that the Republican Party should represent "Sam's Club, not just the country club." His unassuming demeanor -- he likes to play in pickup hockey games as he travels around the state -- and commitment to fiscal restraint have led to strong approval ratings.
University of Minnesota political science professor Lawrence Jacobs said Pawlenty was "one of the most capable politicians for presenting himself as reasonable and likable." He won accolades in his party by taking a no-tax pledge when he ran in 2002 (though he did not repeat the pledge last cycle) and has vetoed a number of popular bills, including a recent transportation bill because of his opposition to tax hikes, Jacobs said.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, March 26, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 64 words Type of Material: Correction
John McCain: An article in Saturday's Section A on Republican presidential candidate John McCain's possible running mates quoted GOP consultant Scott Reed as saying, "By the time this election gets around, everyone is going to know he [would] be the oldest president ever sworn in." McCain, at 72, would be the oldest first-term president. President Reagan was 73 when sworn into his second term.
"He's battling the Legislature and yet his approval ratings are pretty strong," Jacobs said.
Pawlenty will host the Republican convention in the Twin Cities later this year, but Jacobs and others have questioned whether the governor would be able to deliver Minnesota for McCain in November. Pawlenty won the 2006 election by just 1%.
There is much lobbying among conservatives for Sanford, 47, who served three House terms. He is known for his stunts -- sleeping in his congressional office to save taxpayer money (he sent his housing allowance back to the federal treasury), for example, and carrying two piglets into the statehouse to protest "pork barrel" spending in 2004.
But he has also been politically divisive.
Time magazine ranked him as one of the nation's worst governors in 2005, in part because of South Carolina's high unemployment rate. At the same time, Sanford's zeal for limited government led the libertarian Cato Institute to rank him as one of the nation's best governors.
Neal Thigpen, a political science professor at Francis Marion University in Florence, S.C., said Sanford had spent most of his time as governor "at war with the Republican-controlled state House and state Senate over spending."
"He hasn't had hardly any accomplishments in the years he's been in office because of this continual quarreling with the Legislature," Thigpen said. "This guy's record has been as a party divider in this state."
Besides, Thigpen said, McCain is unlikely to pick a running mate from a state that he could "carry away in a handbasket."
