RALEIGH, NC -- What's a folksy, blue-collar pitch from a Midwestern pol without a good beer analogy?
Appearing at a GOP Victory office opening in swing state North Carolina, Tim Pawlenty on Saturday compared the President Barack Obama's lofty rhetoric of hope and change to the unsatisfying byproduct of a poor-quality keg of an adult beverage.
"We got a problem because we've got a president who's all foam and no beer," declared the former Minnesota governor and top GOP VP pick.
The crowd of about 300 supporters roared.
"I don't know about you but I'm tired of hearing these teleprompter speeches and no results!" he said. "You know his big fancy speeches from four years ago; those speeches, those words don't put gas in our cars do they? And his teleprompter speeches don't pay the mortgage do they?"
Pawlenty, who hours before had talked policy details at a roundtable and given young hockey fans tips on the skating rink, was visibly energized and almost raspy-voiced as he berated the president on behalf of the presumptive GOP nominee, who remains abroad this weekend.
Mitt Romney, a Mormon, does not drink alcohol
"We need to grow this economy and quit kicking our entrepreneurs and small business leaders like President Obama does in the shins every day," he said.
Numerous vice presidential prospects, including Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio and Gov. Bobby Jindalof Louisiana, are stumping for Romney over the coming days. Pawlenty told reporters after his Raleigh appearance that he doesn't see this weekend as an audition for the job.
"I've been out doing this sort of thing since last fall and I get a call once in a while from the campaign saying, 'hey, do you have any free time next week to go be a surrogate?' " he said. "This is consistent with that pattern so it's really no different than what I've been doing for the campaign since last fall."
He declined to speak further about the vetting process, joking that he's been busy around the house.
"I've been taking care of yard work, doing my other work, trying to deal with family matters," he said.
"And trying to get the garage cleaned up. My garage is a mess."
Earlier: Pawlenty calls officials' thumbs down on Chick-Fil-A 'chilling, jaw-dropping'


Pawlenty, the foam is from anger over your corrupt Republican corporate political puppets like you that have INFILTRATED our Democratic government with a USELESS CONGRESS that ONLY care about their corrupt corporates that are PAYING YOUR WAY! The 99% American People's goal is to rid our selves of your corruption!
If our illustrious President Obama is all foam & no beer, your wonderful exlax ETCH-A-SKETCH, who makes enemies where ever he goes & out of touch with everyone except you political puppets couldn't make a MINUTE PIMPLE on the the BACKSIDE of our illustrious President where the sun don't shine!
99% American People, you can see why we have to rid our selves of this trash! Vote 100% STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC, the lives you save WILL be YOURS & your CHILDREN! BELIEVE IT!! IT'S TRUE!!!
You are being hoodwinked...you believe all the BS that spews from the WH. I listened to Debbie Wasserman Schultz on CBS this a.m....more lies. Do they really believe the stuff they say? I've always known that facts are more important than speech. If we get four more years of this president we will be very sorry...bankruptcy of our country. You read about health care and doctor shortages? He has cut funding to Medicare that funds doctor training. Transferred Funds from Medicare to Medicaid....what are all these government funded state insurance exchanges? Who is paying for all this? Government is us...the US taxpayer. We are hemorrhaging jobs....other countries are not investing in our country, which is important to our economy. The guy in the WH is an emperer with no clothes and you ppl are being told look at his beautiful clothes. Open your eyes.
Jennifer, you say other countries aren't investing in the USA. Well within twenty-five miles from where I live in Tennessee, Germans have built a Volkswagen plant which started operation three years ago and is already being expanded. Also, Wacker, a German plant making polysilicon for solar panels, is about half-finished building a 2 billion dollar plant. Apparently, you aren't above being hoodwinked.
Larry, also a Nissan plant that employs 7K near where you live. She has been hoodwinked!
I love Tim Pawlenty. He is a very intelligent man, unlike many of the people posting baseless slanderous charges here.
Tiny Tim can't even get the backing of his own party so I'm not all that concerned with his opinions about others ~ in or out of his party. The really intelligent are not allowing themselves to be drawn into this cess pool of political mediocrity ~ perhaps that best explains Jindal's and Rubio's interests.
Pawlenty is an idiot. He is the chief village idiot of the GOP, a party that is composed of village idiots, and Tim proves it every chance he gets. Here is just one asinine quote from Timmy, " 'Engagement' meant that in 2008, when the Iranian ayatollahs stole an election, and the people of that country rose up in protest, President Obama held his tongue. His silence validated the mullahs, despite the blood on their hands..."
Following that foot-in-his-mouth moment, someone had to clue Pawlenty in that Bush was president in 2008.
Foam is giving Obama too much credit, more like Brussels lace!
So the President of the United States is a beer with no foam. Fine, that's more beer, and less bubbles for me. What is Romney then, hard liquir? Figures that some white trash presidential nominee would be some hard liquir drunk anyways. Get voted into the white house, start drinking all the bourbon in the liquir cabinet I guess. Along with every other piece of trash nominee for the last 100 years.
"white trash" are you a racist ? BTW, Mitt Romney does not drink.
Its nice to hear Pawlenty talk about himself. The idiot doesn't seem to realize its a reflection of himself, he drank all the beer. This is his waterloo!!!
Pawlenty is all Santorum and no Wiener.
@Sally, someone putting something extra in their coffee this morning :) Georgie boy has taken the honor of the worst president this country has ever had! Nice try though! You are the last set of people who should be preaching anything about anything. You guys are the ones that are in such denial about the fact that this all started with Georgie. The bailouts started on his watch, period!
Mr. P., small business owners and entrepreneurs typically represent the middle class. Your buddy, Mitt, knows nothing about the middle class, nor does he care about them. Or the poor. Or the sick. Or the elderly. Or the young. Or anybody else who doesn't meet the standards of his oh-so-exclusive club. I highly recommend you take your foam pitch and utilize it where it more appropriately applies. To your fellow "haves." Or the nearest toilet.
While Obama loyalists may protest, there are a few grains of truth in that statement. Obama's "policies" have largely consisted of sweeping proclamations about the power of the little guy, the inevitable success of America just because it has us, and the inherent evil of anyone earning more than you.
Please provide a quote from the president in which he says people making more than "us" are evil.
A very typical trailer park comment. If this is the best the right can do, they're in deep caca.
Tiny Tim has already been kicked to the curb by his own stable managers. He's probably spilling forth with a lot of inane comments in hopes that one will get picked up and he won't be totally forgotten. This little twittance about foam and beer is a very lame attempt at Macbethean humor. But after all, it is "a tale told by an idiot," isn't it?
Its hard to make good beer when you have a bunch of Republicans GRIDLOCKING THE FLAVORS. A President doesn't run the country by himself. Another dumb article written by a Republican prentending that they had nothing to do with having two wars to drive the deficit into the trillions.
quit blaming bush for obama's failure...how pathetic!!!
Precisely Don !
The president creates his own problems.
You claim the president does not run the country by himself, but he does expect Congress to rubber stamp all his proposals and Don and Serg are badmouthing republicans for not doing that..
When the president sends in his partisan politics proposals and goes on TV threatening to veto any changes , it does appear to me as though he expects to run the country by himself.
With him threatening a veto, Democrats in the House cannot negotiate on bipartisan bills as they could under Bill Clinton or Bush.
If you like the "vision" for our country where the fruits of all of our labors go to toward corporate welfare and benefit only the wealthiest 1%,...then you should vote for the GOP and Romney, because that is what their agenda amounts to.
That was the outcome of the GW Bush administration,...and Romney will be more of the same.
The "trickle down" is a complete lie. There is no trickle down. The 1% has continued to accumulate a greater and greater percentage of the nation's wealth.
The 99%,....the people,...must stick together and give president Barack Obama another four years to combat the GOPs relentless fight against social reform and equity for the nation's workers who drive our nations prosperity and success.
Since day one of Obama's administration, the GOP have been nothing but obstructionists. It is amazing how much they have divided our nation, causing us to mistrust each other by stirring feelings of covetous resentment with their lying, misrepresentative rhetoric.
Who do you think was paying the Limbaughs and Hannitys to plant those seeds ?
ANSWER: The wealthy 1% who stand to lose money by having rules that prevent their abuses. THEY DON'T LIKE THAT IDEA. Is ANYBODY surprised ?
No one said that "change" would be easy, and it is obvious and predictable that the GOP and their 1%er constituents are dragging their feet, sitting on their money and attempting to threaten their way through the entire Obama administration.
We all need to pull together and fight "tooth and nail" through this election.
The 99% will rise above the conservative lie and unite to make this country great again.
In 2012,...vote for "We the people",...vote Obama/Biden
obama is not even foam..........he is at best hot air....
If you like the "vision" where the fruits of all of our labors go to toward corporate welfare and benefit only the wealthiest 1%,...then you should vote for the GOP and Romney, because that is what their agenda amounts to.
That was the outcome of the GW Bush administration,...and Romney will be more of the same.
The "trickle down" is a complete lie. There is no trickle down. The 1% has continued to accumulate a greater and greater percentage of the nation's wealth.
The 99%,....the people,...must stick together and give president Barack Obama another four years to combat the GOPs relentless fight against social reform and equity for the nation's workers who drive our nations prosperity and success.
Since day one of Obama's administration, the GOP have been nothing but obstructionists. It is amazing how much they have divided our nation, causing us to mistrust each other by stirring feelings of covetous resentment with their lying, misrepresentative rhetoric.
Who do you think was paying the Limbaughs and Hannitys to plant those seeds ?
ANSWER: The wealthy 1% who stand to lose money by having rules that prevent their abuses. THEY DON'T LIKE THAT IDEA. Is ANYBODY surprised ?
No one said that "change" would be easy, and it is obvious and predictable that the GOP and their 1%er constituents are dragging their feet, sitting on their money and attempting to threaten their way through the entire Obama administration.
We all need to pull together and fight "tooth and nail" through this election.
The 99% will rise above the conservative lie and unite to make this country great again.
In 2012,...vote for "We the people",...vote Obama/Biden.
Finally a president who has compassion and empathy for the non-working class. There's a groundswell of support for President Obama. Despite what anyone says he will easily be re-elected.
Everyone expects a close election. I don't think it will be easy. He also has many folks very unhappy with his politics.
Romney is Cool-aid and some of you guys are drinking it......good grief.....what is going on with our country ?
I guess Mitt is the beer, just like Bush 43 was also the beer. Well it was the foam Obama that saved the world from an economic crash. I will be voting for more foam come November. The USA is allergic to the white beer.
White Floridian
Pawlenty is talking about President Obama is all foam and no beer, well Pawlenty you couldn't and didn't make the grade against plastic man so stick with your yard work and if plastic man needs you he will call you.
seems to me more liberals are posting than US conservatives. Could it be because they are all getting
welfare rather than seeking a job? and they all have computers??? no wonder they stick up for the present president - a baboon could do a better job!
Pawlenty? REALLY? The only "short lister" more boring than Willard himself has something to say? How does this even MATTER? This entire dog & pony show aka Republican Primaries is a joke...one that's not at all funny, just stupid, long-winded and a waste of everyone's time.
I'm so tired of hearing "half the tax payers pay NOTHING". REALLY? How is paying outrageous interest rates due to low credit rating NOTHING? How about sales tax, when you already have less to live on than it costs to survive? It's NOTHING?
People who are exploited, working for never-increasing "minimum", slave wages some Republicans want to LOWER, so even more people can work for even less....while their big bosses put away millions in foreign tax havens.
Stop rationalizing the GREED that got us into this mess! There are no suffering millionaires...by definition, they have it made! Their income ROSE by 127% in the past 10 years, despite the DEPRESSION we're still in! Someone who earned minimum wage 10 years ago did BETTER than he's doing today, because the buying power has DROPPED.
Give people a LIVING WAGE and do it NOW! Then they won't need food stamps, welfare or any "hand outs", because a LIVING WAGE is exactly what it says...wages that allow a full-time worker to LIVE. It would still be rough, but it would certainly be better than the "status quo" which Republicans still want to make even more miserable for those struggling.
Stop defending the evils of the ultra-capitalists. Stop defending the BAIN CAPITOL-ISH CEOs, the ones who don't care at all about the people, but only about how much money they can squeeze out of them.
This is 2012, not 1912. We've come a long way, and we refuse to go back to the days of the Robber Barrons. It's time for another Teddy Roosevelt who says ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Our Teddy Roosevelt is President Obama...and we will NOT stand by and allow a corporate whore like Willard "Mittens" Romney to stroll in and purchse his election with dirty cash from the filthy rich elite.
Ready for the right wing spin on THAT. (This oughta be GOOD!) I'm not holding my breath, because the best a right winger ever has in form of a rebuttal is ...hot air and sheepish giggles. Surprise me. Give me something of substance as a response. Good luck!
Mitt Romney is Sarah Palin without the balls.
When do we get some meaningful dialog with substance out of the republicant party. I am tired of the hollow rhetoric that avoids specifics. I have no reason to believe that they have a plan other than their jingoist rhetoric--"America is great" and "we have to do what is right for America" Duh! Is anyone listening to this crap. The republicant challengers better bone-up on their responses and come up with some specifics. Wise folks speak because the have something to say, fools speak because they have to.
All politics is sound bites. If you consider any of Obama's speeches meaningful rhetoric, I believe you are very mistaken.
The Republicans are all Christo-Facist Oiligarchy supporters and not middle class supporters.
Robney is all Reagon hair dye #5 and a rich kid with stings attached. God help us and deliever us form his type.
And the rich get richer.
Pawlenty's comment sounds as pathetic as his sorry run in the primaries.
Good analogy,Pawlenty..you will now be labeled,somehow, a racist or something,and i will be labeled one for liking your analogy....those who think his comment sounds pathetic,are just jealous they didnt think of it first..