The Future of Republican Politics

As the Republican Party continues to suffer through difficult times, conservatives across the country are hunting for a source of revitalization. While they may not always agree on which path to renewal is most efficient, many GOP affiliates recognize the need for fresh and innovative leadership. They want vitality, youth and brains – the type of suave personality that might succeed in augmenting the party’s new image. For some, this figure should represent cultural diversity; others maintain that it should energize the youth. In either case, the question remains: who will step up to the plate? Although the answer appears elusive as ever, the name Tim Pawlenty has increasingly entered the mix of likely contenders.

Pawlenty, who currently serves as the governor of Minnesota, has never strayed very far from home. Born to a blue-collar family in St. Paul, he attended his local high school and then sought a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota. Upon graduation, Tim furthered his education at the University of Minnesota Law School and ultimately decided to pursue a career as an attorney.

However, it wasn’t long thereafter that Pawlenty opted to try his luck in the political arena. He made his entrance at the lowest level of local government, and gradually worked his way up the ladder. He was appointed first to his town’s Planning Commission, and the next year he served as a member of City Council. In 1992 he ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives, a race that he ended up winning by a razor-thin margin. Nevertheless, he performed according to his constituents’ liking and was reelected to the seat five subsequent times. When the Republicans eventually won back control of the House in 1998, the body selected Pawlenty to be their Majority Leader.

When the 2002 elections rolled around, Pawlenty had his sights set on the Minnesota governorship. Although initially considered an underdog for the Republican nomination, Pawlenty won a hard-fought primary and a narrow general election. He ran on a platform of “balanced budgets without increased taxes,” – apromise that attracted many Minnesotans to his campaign. Of course, when Pawlenty took office in January 2003 and inherited a $4.3 billion state deficit, the situation became much more dire.

In an effort to remain true to his pledge, Pawlenty chose to reduce the rate of funding for many state services, including public transportation, welfare and other social benefits. He cut spending on the state’s healthcare program, and espoused decreasing the rate of physician reimbursement. However, these reductions did not balance the deficit entirely, and so Pawlenty decided to maneuver around his promise by levying “fees,” rather than taxes, on certain products. The most prominent of these was called the Health Impact Fee, raised the price of cigarettes across the state. Although the cost was initially challenged by the tobacco industry, Minnesota’s Supreme Court upheld this fee as legal. The other notable fee that Pawlenty introduced had a substantial impact of the state’s educational system. It served in effect as a tuition increase for public colleges and universities, and was denigrated by many as an offense to Minnesota’s long tradition of affordable higher education. Thus, while Pawlenty succeeded in maintaining his state’s budget equilibrium, it came at the expense of major public support and reneged campaign promises.

In 2007 Pawlenty served as chairman of the National Governor’s Association, and just this past July he was elected as vice chair of the Republican Governor’s Association. In this capacity Pawlenty is better positioned to make a name for himself among Republicans than ever before. As such, when Pawlenty also announced this summer that he does not intend to seek a third term as governor, many analysts began to raise their eyebrows. He had begun to set up speaking engagements all across the country, and in what has been lauded as a brilliant strategic move, Pawlenty is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a major Republican fundraiser in Iowa – a state with special presidential significance. What’s more, he has become increasingly visible in the news media, regularly commenting on national policy and making his opinions known.

In the midst of our country’s debate about healthcare reform, Tim Pawlenty has eagerly added his two cents to the discussion. In fact, this October he formally published a list of his prefered healthcare initiatives. The first such suggestion is to open up Minnesota’s healthcare market to out-of-state companies, thereby allowing the most regulated policies with the best proven health outcomes to co0mpete for market-share. Another proposal is to rank providers based on the quality and efficiency of the plans that they offer. It would allow low-income patients who rely on state-funded assistance to receive extra benefits when they choose a provider with a high rating. In turn, this additional money would be able to help cover other expenses, such as prescription drugs and eyeglasses.

When questioned about his healthcare proposals, Pawlenty said, “underlying all of this is this principle: that individuals and purchasers have to have some incentive to use money wisely.” But while almost everyone can agree that personal incentive is an essential part to any successful healthcare reform, the Mayo Clinic has raised some concerns about Pawlenty’s ideas. In particular, they are uneasy about how the providers would be rated. The clinic opposes how the state currently ranks providers because the process has been anything but transparent. Many believe that the ratings are predominantly based on cost rather than on patient outcome and quality of service. Indeed, others have been outspoken and critical of the plan as well. One state representative maintains that “this is really a failed model that has been around a long time… It is kind of a rehashing of the old idea that the medical care marketplace can work just like buying a TV set, and it can’t.”

The Republican Party needs somebody to step up and assume the role of team captain. This figure doesn’t have to be a prominent senator or chairman of the Republican National Committee; the next major leader could surface as an outstanding legislator at the state level. After all, remember the recent hype about Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal? But regardless of where they come from, this person must have the type of personality that people will flock to. They must attract both Republicans and Independents – not only for a brief stint, but also for the long haul.

That Tim Pawlenty hopes to become this next leader is evident. Now the question becomes: will Republicans think he’s the right person for the job? As Andrew Romano of Newsweek puts it, “he’s a bright, well-liked team player with blue-collar roots who has proven he can win Democratic turf; on the downside, he’s an unfamiliar (and somewhat bland) face with little national experience—and even less money.” The stage is set for his political ascension, but Pawlenty’s smarts, imagination and capacity tolead still must be tested.

(Michael Brodsky, a WUPR Staff Editor, is a sophomore majoring in History and Religious Studies. His email is michaelbrodsky@wustl.edu.)