Tim Pawlenty

Minnesota Governor Tom Pawlenty is the featured speaker tomorrow night for the Missouri GOP's Lincoln Days event. Pawlenty, who is hoping to drum up support for a 2012 presidential bid, has been quite critical of the Dubya years and Congressional GOP leadership (e.g., Denny Hastert, Tom DeLay, Roy Blunt); it will be very interesting to see if T-Paw has the courage to speak his mind with key offenders in the audience.

Without further ado, here are The Top Ten Things the GOP Establishment Hopes Pawlenty Does Not Repeat at Lincoln Days:

'"The Republicans had their shot not long ago and blew it. We got fired for a reason."

"Over the time that they were there [Bush, DeLay, Blunt, et al.] and had the leadership opportunity, they blew it. We got fired for a reason."

Minnesota Governor and Presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty will be in St. Charles two weeks from today as a featured speaker for the Missouri GOP's annual Lincoln Days event. 

Something tells me his remarks to the Republican incumbents seeking reelection and promotion to higher office will deviate slightly from his statements to Esquire Magazine about "the State of the Republican Party."

"The Republicans had their shot not long ago to address the real needs and concerns of everyday Americans, and they blew it.... Over the time that they were there and had the leadership opportunity, they blew it. We got fired for a reason."

"The party got into a whole bunch of corruption and personal scandals that weren't compatible with the principles it claimed to stand for."