It appears Tim Pawlenty has pared down his 2008 to-do list.

That line about running for president is nowhere to be found.

"I'll be lucky to be re-elected governor of Minnesota," he told reporters.

That may be a stretch. No one on the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party side looks as strong as he does, and third parties have a long ways to go to repeat the 1998 Jesse Ventura victory.

I always considered Pawlenty a longshot for the GOP nomination in '08, even before his betrayal of the Tax Evader's League. He has a sort of bland wistful quality that keeps him from being tagged as mean-spirited. But political parties rarely nominate bland, wistful candidates for the presidency -- unless they're already convinced that the election is a hopeless cause.

It makes a lot more sense for Pawlenty to bat his eyes and hope he is picked as the GOP's vice-presidential candidate. It only makes sense for the Republicans to pick him. Pawlenty might just deliver Minnesota to the Republican column in a close race, and his soft, vacant smile would never threaten to outshine the presidential nominee. Pawlenty, in fact, would be a much smarter choice for VP than Norm Coleman, a man who doesn't have an honest or sincere bone in his body, and who would feed his own mother to the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal if he thought it would advance his career. A president never wants to have to look over his shoulder at his VP all the time.

That said, I don't agree that the DFL can't field a strong candidate against Pawlenty in 2006. Attorney General Mike Hatch might run a very strong race against him, especially considering the Governor is currently enjoying a 43% approval rating.

Or not enjoying it.