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Gov. Tim Pawlenty can't see Russia from
his house.


      Neither could former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, of course, but her
suggestion that Russia's proximity to her home state made for
foreign policy chops was spoofed endlessly during the 2008
campaign. 


The Minnesota Republican won't be such an easy target --
he's a globetrotter whose trade missions, troop visits and stops
at exclusive international conferences have taken him to Baghdad,
Bangalore, Beijing and points beyond.
      

As such, Tiny Fey won't be able to poke fun at his passport on
"Saturday Night Live" should he run for the White House. 


But with
the 2012 Iowa caucuses still some two years away, Pawlenty is quick
to dismisses the suggestion that his overseas travel -- his latest
trade mission departs Saturday for Brazil and Chile - has been
meant to serve anything but Minnesota's interests.
      

"That isn't why we do it," Pawlenty said this week. The trade
missions and troop visits in particular are "obvious and worthy
uses of a governor's time."

      Still, one of the first tests for him and other White House
hopefuls will be whether they have what it takes to steer the U.S.
through wars, diplomacy, treaties, trade matters and other global
issues. 


Candidates also must show the mettle required of the
commander in chief, with the nation at war in Iraq and Afghanistan
and facing nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea.


      Proving they can measure up is often toughest for governors,
whose job descriptions limit their international reach.


      As governor, Palin had stuck so close to home that her foreign
policy credentials were immediately questioned when Sen. John
McCain picked her as his running mate. 


She had traveled only once
outside North America before landing on the national stage, and was
ridiculed by Fey and others who touting Alaska's proximity to
Russia as foreign policy experience.


      Pawlenty will have more travel on his resume, but his long trips
abroad doesn't automatically translated into unimpeachable foreign
policy credentials.


      "If you overstate that, it can backfire," said Mark Dillen, a
former Foreign Service officer who blogs for the nonpartisan
Foreign Policy Association.


      During the 2008 campaign, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
talked about visiting 40 countries and sleeping in the fortified
Green Zone on visits to Iraq. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney
visited Iraq and Afghanistan while considering a run.

      During his 2004 campaign for president, former Vermont Gov.
Howard Dean visited three continents, yet still was attacked by
rival Democrats on his foreign policy credentials. Dean attributed
that to his front-runner status at the time, and said the trips
were enlightening.


      "I once had a four-hour conversation over dinner with (then
German Chancellor) Gerhard Schroeder and four other governors,"
Dean said. "It's a very quick learning curve when you get to do
something like that."


      Former President George W. Bush used Texas's close relationship
with Mexico to counter critics who said he hadn't traveled enough
when he ran in 2000. Some joked at the time that Bush, then the
Texas governor, was the only U.S. governor with his own foreign
policy.

      In a pinch, advisers can provide cover. When then-Arkansas Gov.
Bill Clinton ran in 1992, he tried to stick mainly to domestic
issues but pointed to a team of veteran foreign policy advisers
drawn from Congress and President Jimmy Carter's administration.


      President Barack Obama, a senator who had served on the Foreign
Relations Committee, had to deal with the foreign policy question
during his campaign. Though he lived in Indonesia as a child, his
overseas travel had been limited, and he went to the Middle East
and Europe during the campaign to project a seasoned image.


      Pawlenty has taken a methodical approach to travel, leading
roughly one trade mission a year and visiting Minnesota soldiers
overseas about as often. 


He has been to Afghanistan, Bosnia,
Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, India, Iraq, Israel,
Kosovo, Kuwait, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. A trip to
Mexico is also planned.

      Pawlenty's interest in international affairs impressed former
German Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger when they met in Minnesota
several years ago. Ischinger, who now heads the Munich Security
Conference, has invited Pawlenty to the exclusive annual gathering
of world leaders and global security experts for three years
running.


      "I invite people who have the capacity to be leaders in the
future or who are leaders, who are important to how we develop the
world forward and how we deal with ongoing crises," Ischinger
said.


      Past presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Joe
Lieberman and McCain have attended the conference in a posh Munich
hotel. Pawlenty says he hasn't decided whether to attend the next
conference, in February, because of commitments back home.


      Though Pawlenty has said he's undecided about a presidential
bid, he's started a political action committee and this week hired
a top McCain fundraiser to serve as finance director. Whatever he
decides, his potential rivals won't be standing still.


      Palin, who is on a national tour promoting her book "Going
Rogue," gave her first overseas speech in Hong Kong in September.
The trip was widely seen as groundwork for a possible 2012 bid.


      Associated Press writer Chris Williams contributed to this
report from Minneapolis.

Gallery

The governor's travels

Politics and Government News

Martiga Lohn

Author

Gov. Tim Pawlenty leaves on his latest trade mission Saturday, to visit Brazil and Chile. He is following the lead of other presidential hopefuls in burnishing their foreign policy credibility by traveling internationally.

Pawlenty, other aspirants travel for foreign credibility

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