Pawlenty outlines first steps toward unity

11/10/2006

The governor said the next four years will be different. He pledged cooperation with the DFL and brushed off suggestions that he may have higher ambitions.

Dane Smith,
Star Tribune
Last update: November 09, 2006 – 11:19 PM

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, in his first post-reelection news conference, said Thursday he’s setting up meetings with the new leaders of the DFL House and Senate majorities and will begin focusing promptly “on those things we can do together.”
Having lost the Republican House majority in the election and now facing lopsided DFL majorities in each chamber, Pawlenty said “circumstances have changed so that the next four years will be very different from the last four years.

“Our purpose in the next four years is to work with great diligence toward a common agenda,” he said.

While offering no specifics or new policy proposals, Pawlenty said that priority goals would be working on “how do we improve our schools, how do we fund them, how do we improve our roads and transit system, how do we provide further access and cost containment in health care, how do we better our outdoors and environment for Minnesota, and on down the list.”

The new emphasis on cooperation rather than conflict should be helped by the fact that the state might have a projected budget surplus of around $1 billion, in contrast to shortages in both two-year budget periods of his first term, Pawlenty said.

“For the first time, we’re not focused on crisis management,” he said.

Pawlenty also brushed off speculation about his presence on what some national Republican strategists have called a “short list” of possible GOP vice-presidential or presidential candidates in 2008.

“My wife said I was on a different list,” Pawlenty joked.

More seriously he said: “My complete focus and my total focus is being governor of the state of Minnesota. I am very honored and humbled to be able to continue to serve in this position, and I’m going to give all the energy and enthusiasm that I have to try to make this the best state possible.”