Tucked away at the very end of a three-page Q and A article in Politico.com, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, responds to a question about running for president:

Q: Has a presidential bid in 2012 crossed your mind?

A: I’m focused on 2009 in Minnesota, with a huge budget crisis and an economic crisis. So my energy is there. And once I get through that I’m going to next consider whether I’m going to run for reelection as governor of Minnesota in 2010 and I’m going to make that decision sometime this spring. I am not focused on, nor am I going to decide anything relative to 2012, anytime soon.

Q: If you run for reelection does that commit you to serving a full term?

A: I think it’d be a reasonable expectation for voters. I mean, if you’re going to run for reelection to one office you don’t want to turn around and start running for another one the next day.

Previous questions deal with the stimulus bill -- "I don’t like it ..." yet "Minnesota’s going to accept our share of the money unless we discover some clinkers in the bill" --  and what Republicans need to do to regain power: "... the short answer to that is the Republican Party has to do a better job of convincing Sam’s Club voters, women, Hispanics, younger voters to be Republicans."