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(AP) - The flurry of e-mail began at 6:18 p.m., a quick
dispatch from Gov. Tim Pawlenty's chief spokesman to other top
office staff conveying a radio report of a fallen interstate
bridge.

      "May be cars in Mississippi River. Both directions on 35W.
Helicopter says it's a devastating scene," Brian McClung wrote in
his e-mail 13 minutes after the I-35W bridge collapsed into the
Mississippi River Aug. 1.

      From there, Pawlenty's staff grasped for details. They put out
urgent requests to the state Department of Transportation for
information and they fed off of news reports for regular updates
spread around to staff - at 7:18 p.m., 7:30 p.m., 7:45 p.m. and on
into the night.

      Dozens of e-mails from the night of the collapse and the days
following, obtained by The Associated Press, capture a businesslike
response to the biggest disaster of Pawlenty's tenure.

      By 6:51 p.m. Wednesday, Pawlenty's scheduler had cleared his
calendar for the next day. By 4:22 a.m. Thursday, a press aide
documented how quickly it would fill back up, confirming him for a
solid block of national television interviews beginning with NBC's
"Today" show at 6:30 a.m.

      "The bridge will consume us (and appropriately so) for the next
few days," Chief of Staff Matt Kramer wrote Thursday morning as he
tried to figure out if Pawlenty would have time to meet with first
lady Laura Bush, whose visit to Minnesota was announced prior to
the bridge incident.

      There were other considerations, too.

      Staff kept apprised of the response from Pawlenty's political
rivals, taking note of a Democratic senator's criticism of the
governor for vetoing a transportation bill. 

They closely tracked
the hurried push in Washington for a $250 million in emergency
reconstruction aid. And they wasted little time getting to work on
planning for a replacement bridge.

      Special adviser Paul Anderson wondered whether the GOP governor
and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak should make time for national
Republican leaders gathered in Minneapolis roughly a year before
the Twin Cities hosts the Republican National Convention. 

Anderson termed it an opportunity for Pawlenty to "assure them we are going
to continue to do what we can for the convention. Realize it's not critical, but there could be an important message for him to
deliver - maybe Rybak too?"

      Kramer responded, "Yes, I've been talking with Jeff Larson and
they (the visiting group) need some reassurance/face time that
things are okay." (Larson is chief operating officer of the convention host committee.)

      By Friday, Kramer was seeking answers on what it would take to
get a new bridge up -- and fast. 

He pressed the Pawlenty office
lawyer and a transportation department contact for a "top to
bottom" understanding of what it takes to move a bridge through
the permitting and authorization process.

      "Ideally the 'Your guide to how a bridge gets built' book. And
what I want to do with this information is start looking for every
place where an executive order or a suspension of a particular
activity might accelerate construction," Kramer wrote.

      Later that same day, Kramer had roughed out a job description for a new adviser to the governor: the "Governor's I-35W Bridge
Representative."

      "It has one function and only one function," he wrote.

      The official would be the governor's point person on all aspects
of demolition and replacement, giving Pawlenty daily briefings and
handling all proposed legislative initiatives involving the bridge.

Gallery

Pawlenty's political future may be at stake after bridge calamity

Molnau gets defensive; Pawlenty may give in on gas tax increase

Politics and Government News

Brian Bakst, Associated Press

Author

Dozens of e-mails from the night of the collapse and the days following, obtained by The Associated Press, capture a businesslike
response to the biggest disaster of Gov. Pawlenty's tenure.


E-mails provide glimpse of Pawlenty's response to crisis

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