On CNN this past weekend, Tim Pawlenty–apparently in his new, unplugged let-Tim-be-Tim mode–more or less taunted the President, saying that Obama’s been “hiding in the basement” and being “chicken” in the debt limit debate, and needs to act more “courageously.” (Any similarity here to Michele Bachmann’s recent television ad denouncing any debt-limit increase and entitled “Courage,” is surely coincidental.) Then, after Obama emerged from his subterranean lair last night with a prime-time national address, Pawlenty had a different beef: That Obama was “lecturing the country instead of leading it.”
In neither case did Pawlenty express a clear and detailed preference for how the debt standoff should be resolved. Likewise, Mitt Romney reacted to Obama’s address with a tweet bemoaning a “historic failure of leadership” and gagging at the thought of new taxes. But nothing about the relative merits of the Boehner plan or the Reid plan, or how the twain might meet. (Jon Huntsman, to be fair, did issue a statement endorsing Boehner’s latest proposal. Update: Now Mitt Romney, too.)
Not that it matters much. For weeks it’s been clear that the 2012 GOP candidates are mostly reacting to the debt-limit debate, not driving it. Sure, Michele Bachmann’s militant position must help to stiffen the spine of the House Republican “hell no” caucus. But how many GOP members of Congress are really looking to the hustings of Des Moines and Concord for guidance?
To be sure, it’s probably wise for the Republican hopefuls to avoid getting too bogged down in the most unappetizing sausage making process in recent Washington history. (It’s a a general rule of thumb, after all, that the fewer positions a candidate has to take, the better. As Karen Tumulty wrote in the Washington Post last week, the GOP 2012′ers are happy to “take a stand without taking a position.”)
The result consists largely of ad hominem Obama-bashing, coupled with grudging support for a debt limit hike–so long as it comes with large spending cuts, ones whose details remain mostly unspecified. On CNN, Pawlenty dodged questions about what kind of deal he would accept as President. He also seemed to reverse his prior insistence that the debt limit not be raised. “They’re going to have to fix it,” Pawlenty said. “We don’t want to default.” It tells you something about the role of the Republican candidates in the Washington debate that no one seemed to notice, or care.
