In a way, Tim Pawlenty is the perfect running mate for Mitt Romney; he’s a fundamentalist Christian, a creationist, and a climate change denier, but he somehow manages to project a bland non-threatening persona.

In other words, a reactionary nut who doesn’t look like a reactionary nut. Perfect.

It was four years ago this summer, when Tim Pawlenty ranked high on the list of John McCain’s potential running mates, and Mr. Pawlenty and his wife, Mary, were plowing through a voluminous questionnaire probing deep into their finances and almost every other aspect of their lives.

“I remember the two of us joking one night at some inhumane hour, ‘No way is Mitt Romney doing this by himself!’ ” Mr. Pawlenty later wrote in his book. “We had a good laugh over that.”