Gov. Tim Pawlenty might have been strengthening his Oval Office credentials by attending last weekend's international security conference in Germany, says Chris Cillizza in the Washington Post political blog, The Fix.

Cillizza notes: "Such trips allow Pawlenty, who is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2012, to shore up his one obvious weakness (and the weakness of any governor running for national office): lack of foreign policy experience and know-how."

He said Pawlenty was invited to the conference by Sen. John McCain.

MPR's Polinaut seems to have been first to flag this item.

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"In the near term, Pawlenty must decide whether to run for a third term in 2010. His advisers paint him as genuinely undecided but for a man with obvious national ambitions, Pawlenty has to weigh whether the benefits of being a sitting office holder are greater than the possibility that he might come up short at the ballot box next fall.

"No matter what he decides, Pawlenty's actions over the past few months have shown a savvy in regards his own political future that should warm the hearts of his allies who would like to see him run for president in 2012."