GOP Post I: Pawlenty hasn't learned from Romney's mistakes

From The Washington Post:

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is widely regarded as one of the Republican Party's rising national leaders. The runner-up to Sarah Palin to be John McCain's vice presidential running mate, he is a conservative whose blue-collar roots, amiable personality and two terms as governor of a traditionally Democratic state would seem to make him a natural in attracting the kind of swing voters who are always fought over in presidential elections.

But the Pawlenty who has stepped onto the national stage in recent months has said and done things that have other Republicans wondering about his instincts and his sure-footedness as a prospective 2012 presidential candidate. Pawlenty could learn from the earlier mistakes of one of his potential rivals for the GOP nomination, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney.

Pawlenty endorsed Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman over Republican candidate Dede Scozzafava in New York's 23rd congressional district, but he acted only after Palin had turned the special election into an intraparty test of strength.

Pawlenty said there is no deliberate effort to move to the right. "In general, I've governed as a conservative in Minnesota, so being conservative isn't like a new development or a revelation," he said.

Pawlenty, who has never been known as a red-meat political orator, acknowledged that he has been particularly rough in his criticism of Obama this year but offered no regrets on that front. "I don't think this is a time to mince words," he said.

Pawlenty earlier decided not to seek a third term as governor. He has established a political action committee and assembled a team of advisers who are among the best in the party, with roots in Iowa, an understanding of new technology, and a breadth of knowledge on the intersection of politics and policy.

The question is whether he and his team have been spooked by the influence of the most conservative wing of his party in presidential nominating politics. His advisers said no. "These are all unique circumstances in time, and they don't represent a strategic or calibrated effort to move to the right," one adviser said.

Still, there is something Romney-esque in all this. Four years ago, Romney lurched to the right in preparation for his presidential candidacy. He did it on social issues, where his prior support for abortion and gay rights left him vulnerable on his right flank. Pawlenty has a consistent record of opposition to abortion and gay marriage. In his case, he appears to be catering to the populist anger on the right, which is challenging the party establishment and attacking Obama in sometimes extreme language.

The real risk for Pawlenty, as Romney learned in his unsuccessful 2008 campaign, is losing his true voice and his authenticity. Once a candidate starts down that road, it can be hard to pull back.

This year, Romney has generally kept a lower profile. The view among strategists is that Romney has been shrewd in staying out of these flare-ups and trying to focus on big-picture issues. Pawlenty, being less known nationally and looking to attract attention to himself, has been reluctant to stay quiet.

The question is, with that need to raise his own profile, whether Pawlenty can prepare for a possible presidential campaign without sacrificing the best qualities that brought him to this point in his career.