Former Minnesota governor and Romney campaign national co-chair Tim Pawlenty on Friday denied that he harbored any disappointment about not being tapped to join the Republican presidential ticket — he was just happy to be on the short list.
“Look, I didn’t really expect to be considered, much less be a finalist this time so I can honestly say I wasn’t disappointed to not get something I didn’t expect,” Pawlenty told MSNBC. “So it was an honor to be considered but I can genuinely tell you that it’s not something I expected so I didn’t have disappointment. I told Mitt originally, I don’t know if I should even go through the process, but it was an honor to be considered and it was an honor more to be a finalist.”
This year marked the second consecutive election cycle in which Pawlenty was strongly considered to serve as the running mate to the Republican presidential nominee. In 2008, he was vetted by Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) campaign before Sarah Palin, then a little-known governor from Alaska, was selected to join the Republican ticket.
