Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been a good soldier this week despite his obvious disappointment about being passed over as John McCain's running mate. But the mask occasionally slips a little.

Megapundit Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia told a University of Minnesota Humphrey Institute audience this morning that he had commisserated with Pawlenty, and the governor replied to this effect:

"A friend of mine told me I was just one chromosome away from being vice president."

(Sabato, by the way, said the anecdote was off the record, but I assume he was kidding because he told the story from the stage to a full auditorium and no one agreed to keep it confidential.) — Eric Black