After Pawlenty Thumbed Nose At Activists, GOP Convention-Goers Let Him Have It

“Disappointed”, “He should have been here”, “Disgrace”, “Turned  his back on the Republican Party”

Tim Pawlenty decided to skip the Minnesota GOP endorsement convention so he could spend a few extra months banking a few more paychecks from Wall Street. As you can imagine, the reaction from Republican activists – who affiliate with Trump more than any other figure in the party – was decidedly negative.

“If he thinks he has enough of a chance to beat out the endorsed candidate for the Republican Party, he should have been here,” said Gary Bergquist, of Duluth. “He’ll have his spot in the news, but I think our endorsed candidate will overcome him in the primary. I think he’s wasting all of our time by not getting into the process.”

Another delegate opined:

“I think it would have been best if he would have shown up for the convention to at least talk to people. That’s just my opinion.”

Of course, this was quintessential Minnesota nice. Unfortunately for Pawlenty, Delegate Boni Bienieck minced no words in expressing her contempt for his absence.

Bieniek said she thinks it was a horrible idea for Pawlenty to get into the race in the first place and that it’s terrible he’s forcing a primary.
“I even wrote him multiple times telling him to drop out of the race,” she said. “I think it’s a disgrace that he’s not here being apart of the process or engaging with the party. He’s basically turned his back on the Republican Party.”

“Tim Pawlenty, afraid of becoming one of the losers Donald Trump loves to antagonize, decided he just wasn’t going to play at all,”said DGA Deputy Communications Director David Turner. “The old Tim Pawlenty, while a terrible governor, at least talked to activists at the Convention, even emphatically stating he would “end his campaign” if he lost the endorsement. The new Tim Pawlenty has skipped the pretense of caring about the convention and focuses on his wealthy donors instead. If he can’t be bothered to talk to your ‘Average Joe’ Republican, how can he be expected to stand up for your average Minnesotan?”