In a look at GOP presidential hopefuls, the Washington column in The Atlantic gives a hefty paragraph to Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

After parsing the chances of Mitt Romney and Bobby Jindal, the piece examines Pawlenty's outlook:

"Tim Pawlenty, the governor of Minnesota, seems genuinely torn over whether to focus on running for reelection in 2010 or to run for president in 2012. He has already built a small, informal network of advisors who could aid him in a national race, and he has critiqued President Obama's stimulus package with an eye towards impressing the GOP's national activist base. With his unpretentious style and blue-collar background, Pawlenty was seen as a formidable 2008 vice presidential prospect - indeed, in the days before Sarah Palin's candidacy was announced, Pawlenty was considered the odds-on favorite. It didn't hurt that Republican strategists were increasingly focused on the Upper Midwest, where pro-life Democrats seemed to tilt in a Republican direction this past November. Yet there remains a nagging sense among leading Minnesota Republicans that Pawlenty is not ready for prime-time, and that he'd be better served by burnishing his credentials with another gubernatorial term in St. Paul before running for president in 2016."