The reason the Gov picked St. Cloud is…
Well, we're still not sure. MPR had a story this morning with St. Cloud officials speculating as to why Gov. Pawlenty decided to choose St. Cloud for this annual State of the State address. In the end, he may just like the city.
There weren't any grand announcements or any "gifts" to the city. He mentioned the city more during his speech (which you can listen to here than in his prepared remarks. He mentioned St. Cloud 12 times, Central Minnesota once, Granite City once and Stearns County once.
Here's what St. Cloud Times reporter Lawrence Schumacher wrote during his liveblog:
Noon: Final thoughts for now:
State media folks are saying this sounds like a speech from a guy who hopes he's not going to be governor for much longer.
Locals who were expecting some kind of announcement regarding St. Cloud are walking out scratching their heads and asking why he came here.
Republicans looking for a good, partisan fight against the DFL are maybe the happiest people in the room today.
One side note, Pawlenty didn't bring up any social issues during his speech. MPR, the Pi Press, the Star Tribune and the AP have stories on the speech.
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