I was on my feet at the GOP Convention when Governor Pawlenty addressed the delegates last weekend.  I especially appreciated Pawlenty using the totally un-Presidential line of President Obama's address to Congress--"we're going to Call you out"--and then going on the offense against the Obama policies on the table.

I even blogged about "Falling in Love Again" with the Governor back when unallotment hit.

But as I sit on this cold October night, bracing for one of the earliest winter snow storms on record in Minnesota and read today'sMichelle Malkin post about the GOP's waffling on global warming, it brought me back- as it did Ms. Malkin.  Back to 2007 when our party was so invested in the need to be "cool" (or would that be warm?) that they forgot about the need to be right.

Governor Pawlenty has yet to address his 2007 feet-first jump into the world of Will Steiger and carbon credits.  This is what he said at the very first meeting of his "Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group" in April 2007:

 

  "Thank you everyone. You’re all busy and you’ve taken time to help us form a better

environmental program for the state.

   As Peter Drucker taught us, “The practices that got us here, won’t get us to the future.

The best way to think about future is to go out and invent it.”

   It looks like we should have listened to President Carter. He called us to action, and we

should have listened. So we now have ourselves in a bit of a pickle. As is often the case,

the people are way ahead of the politicians. We’re benefiting from their tailwind.

Other visionaries deserve credit too, many who may have been dismissed as goofy. They

were right, not goofy.

   Energy and climate issues are intertwined. Climate change is real. Human behavior is

partly and may be a lot responsible. Those who don’t think so are simply not right. We

should not spend time on voices that say it’s not real. Please don’t let these voices

discourage or distract you from your mission.

   Our hope is at the end of your deliberations, you will have given us a plan for action.

I’m proud of Minnesota’s longstanding attention to environmental issues, but here we

need to raise the bar as others catch up. We want to be bold, dynamic. But we have to

fashion steps. Our actions on climate can’t unravel the political consensus or the

Minnesota economy. It must be done in a rational way.

   Sometimes success has led to complacency. Sadly we have been complacent in thinking

about energy and environment. But we’re reaching a tipping point, and we have to deal

with it now. I’ll do my best to lead and advocate for your recommendations."

I was a very close observer of the Gov's "Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group", and even ended up on the front page of the Star Tibune for simply trying to get the contact information for the Group.  I wanted to invite them to an event on the topic of global warming that included Jason Lewis, Senator Rudy Boschwitz and Author Dennis Avery, Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years.

Jason used the "We should have listened to Jimmy Carter" quote at the event and I'm sure he hasn't forgotten about it.  Jason Lewis frequently subs for Rush Limbaugh these days.

Will there be a mea cupla from Mr. Pawlenty?  How do you spin this?   

This could be the issue that costs Governor Pawlenty any shot at a GOP nomination.  If I were handling his strategy, I'd suggest he address it sooner rather than later.