Tim Pawlenty is out of the Republican presidential race but says he’s headed to Tunisia next month on another electoral mission, the Wall Street Journal says.
He’ll be leading an election monitoring delegation organized by the International Republican Institute, a nonprofit group funded almost entirely by the federal government, the story says. A new Constituent Assembly will be elected in Tunisia, following mass protests last year.
Pawlenty told the paper: “I wish I were still in the race, but now I’m going off to Tunisia instead.”
Asked why he was taking up election monitoring, Pawlenty joked: “I’m available. I have time on my hands.”
Pawlenty was in San Francisco when reached by phone. Asked why he was there, he laughed and told the paper: “I’m doing what you might expect. I’m looking for a job.”
What experience and qualifications does Pawlenty have to monitor foreign elections?