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  • Danny Schwartz
He tried to weasel his way out of it before, but now Tim Pawlenty has decided to come out for Paul Ryan's budget. Still, his speech is loaded with vacillations:

First of all, I applaud Congressman Ryan for his courage and his leadership in putting his plan forward. At least he has a plan. President Obama doesn't have a plan. The Democrats don't have a plan. And I really applaud his leadership and his courage in putting a plan on the table. Number two, we will have our own plan; it will have many similarities to Congressman Ryan's plan, but it will have some differences, one of which will be we'll address Social Security. He chose not to; we are addressing Social Security. And the Medicare part of our plan will have some differences, too. It will have some similarities also. So we'll have our own plan. But if I can't have my own plan — as president, I'll have my own plan — if I can't have that, and the bill came to my desk and I had to choose between signing or not Congressman Ryan's plan, of course I would sign it.

This is the language of man with no backbone. He doesn't want to fall in the same pit Gingrich fell into, but he wants to look like the sensible, moderate guy who isn't afraid to lead. In the end, he fails on every level.