Just do what you say you're going to do

Tim Pawlenty has officially announced his candidacy for prez. Most of the others running (or thinking of doing so) appear to be a joke to all but their strident base. But Pawlenty produced a slick announcement ad that has a simple message with broad appeal to the masses. It can be boiled down to "Obama's policies aren't working and he isn't telling you the truth. He's so focused on the next election he won't risk anything."

Yes, Pawlenty is toeing the GOP line (especially about gays), so that simple message is actually quite deceiving -- he's not going to tell the truth either.

RJ Eskow of the Campaign for America's Future says that (contrary to the other contenders) Pawlenty is a threat to Obama.

The message the prez. puts out is frequently muddled. During his recent deficit reduction speech Obama put forth a rousing defense of government and taxes, but his solutions were pre-compromised and undercut what he just said. In unemployment, the housing crisis, and Wall Street reform, Obama doesn't come out with bold solutions that might be lessened through negotiation, he starts from a position where his words don't match his actions.

Pawlenty attacks that succinctly: "In Washington they call that 'smart politics.' But I'm not from Washington."

The way Obama can win against that is to offer simple, straightforward, honest solutions that match what he says. And start doing that promptly.