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But McCain wouldn’t say whether that place would include a spot on his ticket.
The presumptive GOP nominee for president visited Minneapolis for a fundraiser and spoke and took questions for an hour and 15 minutes during a town hall meeting in St. Paul.
Pawlenty has been mentioned frequently as a potential running mate for McCain. But the two-term governor has been playing down his chances of running with the Arizona senator, saying this week he doesn’t expect to be offered the job.
Asked whether Pawlenty was just being modest, McCain said, “The governor is characteristically modest, as we know, about a lot of things.” He added: “Everybody knows Governor Pawlenty has established a record, including being re-elected in probably the most difficult year for Republicans we’ve had in recent times. He has a very big place in the future of the Republican Party.”
McCain said Pawlenty proved that a Republican can win Minnesota, a state that has gone Democratic in the last eight presidential elections. He also mentioned the governor’s support during a difficult period in his campaign when many observers had written him off.
McCain declined to name candidates for the job of running mate and said his campaign doesn’t even have a short list.
A few hours later at the St. Paul event, McCain also hedged when David Story of Farmington asked about Pawlenty’s chances as a running mate.
“I wouldn’t like to speculate on who the vice presidential candidates are but I know he has a place in the future of this country as well as our Republican Party, and the first one is more important,” McCain said.
He drew laughs when he added: “The vice president of the United States really only has two duties: One is to, in the case of a tie vote in the Senate, the vice president goes to the floor of the Senate and casts the tie-breaking vote. The other duty is to inquire daily as to the health of the president.”
Pawlenty introduced McCain at the town hall meeting, praising his patriotism and integrity.
“He has also demonstrated an ability to do something else I think Minnesotans really appreciate. He’s a straight talker, he’s a populist, he calls it like he sees it,” the governor said.
Earlier, Pawlenty sat quietly next to McCain on his “Straight Talk Express” campaign bus while McCain answered questions about his prospects for landing on the ticket. The governor and first lady had boarded the bus to welcome McCain before the senator’s plane had even touched down.
They were on their way to the fundraiser, where Pawlenty was one of the hosts. The invitation listed some of the state’s heavy hitters, including former Sen. Rudy Boschwitz, broadcasting magnate Stanley Hubbard and philanthropist Wheelock Whitney.
Contributors who raised $50,000 could get a private reception and photograph with McCain before he headed across town to the town hall rally with a hand-picked audience chosen to focus on independent voters.
One of them — Joe Booher of Minneapolis, who called himself a strong Democrat — left the event impressed with McCain after posing a question on health care for veterans.
But Booher, 42, who served in Iraq with the Army Reserve, said McCain still would “probably not” get his vote.
On the other hand, Story — the Farmington man who asked about Pawlenty’s prospects — said he was more likely to volunteer to make phone calls for McCain after seeing him in person.
“I think he’s honest and he has integrity,” Story said.
During the bus trip to Minneapolis, McCain said he sees himself as the underdog in Minnesota, but plans to fight to win the state’s 10 electoral votes.
He’s counting on Pawlenty’s help.
“The governor proved in 2006 that a Republican can win here, but I understand that we’re going to have to campaign hard, do a lot of work here, count on the governor,” McCain said.
