Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty had some explaining to do on The Last Word. For many months, Lawrence O'Donnell predicted he would be the 2012 Republican presidential nominee. After a poor showing at the Iowa straw poll and fundraising concerns, T-Paw decided to bail.
He jokingly blamed Lawrence's endorsement for sinking his presidential campaign on The Last Word.
"Look, I had my shot. We had a strategy. I didn't work, and we are moving on. I appreciate the tip of the hat that you have given me, and I appreciated the endorsement, but it didn't work and we have to live for the future not the past," he said on Thursday's show. Now's he's throwing his support behind Willard M. Romney.
With the current batch of GOP candidates, many of us have been pondering what would have happened if T-Paw stayed in. As Lawrence pointed out, he's "just not crazy enough" to win these days in the political landscape of the 999 plan and "oops" as an on-the-record answer to a serious debate question.
Pawlenty says he won't consider a VP slot, though he is now The Last Word's official choice for the Republican vice-presidential nomination. Lawrence pushed/prodded/pleaded, but Pawlenty says he isn't interested in dwelling on what could have been.
"You're killing me. You should just take a dagger and put it through my political heart."