“That’s the problem,” says Schier. “Who are the Pawlenty Republicans? It’s hard to a identify a faction of the party for whom he is a choice.”
Pawlenty is trying to turn that into an advantage by courting all factions. “I want to be every person’s candidate,” he told the New York Times. “That’s my goal.”
“He has the capacity to appeal to all parts of the Republican coalition,” says Hofrenning, noting that Pawlenty replicates the Reaganite formula of equal parts social and fiscal conservatism.
For his part, Pawlenty calls himself a “Sam’s Club Republican,” a reference to his humble roots and an appeal to working-class Republicans.
