Bachmann Decks Pawlenty

Tim Pawlenty tried to get his sinking campaign a much needed boost by stressing executive experience. That's fine. Tell the voters how well you did as a governor and promise more of the same. Pawlenty, however, is desperate and has launched an attack on Michele Bachmann's supposed lack of that experience. When this tactic didn't work he raised questions about Bachmann's ability to serve due to her migraine headaches. That blew up in his face. So back he went to the lack of executive experience screed. Today the Bachmann campaign slapped the taste out of his mouth with this statement:

"Actions speak louder than words. When I was fighting against the unconstitutional individual mandate in healthcare, Governor Pawlenty was praising it. I have fought against irresponsible spending while Governor Pawlenty was leaving a multi-billion-dollar budget mess in Minnesota. I fought cap-and-trade. Governor Pawlenty backed cap-and-trade when he was Governor of Minnesota and put Minnesota into the multi-state Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord. While Governor Pawlenty was praising TARP -- the $700 billion bailout in 2008 -- I worked tirelessly against it and voted against it."

Pawlenty is the only candidate in the Republican field to attack another Republican; not just an occasional jab, but an unrelenting and sustained attack. Let's see if he can take a counter punch.