Gov. Tim Pawlenty's walk-on/understudy role in the 2008 election drama gets mentioned in the new book "Game Change" by Mark Halpern and John Heilemann.

The book covers lots of ground and most of the headlines on the book have focused on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comments about President Obama, but Minnesotans will especially appreciate the Pawlenty references, as pointed out by Eric Roper in a Strib Hot Dish Politics blog:

[McCain] Chief campaign strategist Steve Schmidt thought Pawlenty was a formidable pick, but not the right man to re-energize the campaign.

"Here's my view of the politics of it," Schmidt told McCain as they feasted on deep-fried burritos. "In any normal year, Tim Pawlenty's a great pick, a no-brainer. But this isn't a normal year. We need to have a transformative, electrifying moment in this campaign.

Schmidt and Davis then placed a new option on the table: Sarah Palin."

Another interesting Pawlenty anecdote:

"When Bush first caught the news of the pick on a basement television set in the West Wing, he thought at first he heard 'Pawlenty.' (Interesting, he mused.) But then he realized that the name was Palin, and he was completely baffled. (Where did that come from?)"