Dave McLaughlin is Pawlenty's third drunk-driving hire

• Nick, welcome to MN. It's cold and people are drunks. I don't care about politics, a bunch of cry-babies on both sides. Did you really go to Ivy League schools to inform me about drunks and where they are working? Give me some juice, info we can apply.

• You mean Pawlenty hired Dayton as his driver?

• Agree. Anyone who has ever texted or talked on a phone while in a car should now have to wear the scarlet letter. Those things have killed too.

• It really doesn't matter all that much as they will be very temporary jobs!

• Since when is it journalism to just copy a story from somewhere else and throw in your own crap opinion? That's what blogging is. Next time just save your time and give us the link directly. You can let us know how you feel about it in the comments. "...the fact remains that Pawlenty's campaign seems to only have job openings for guys who drink and drive." Nice fact dude.

• So we should hold "journalists" to lower standards than politicians? Way to keep that bar low CP!

• You are absolutely correct. Ones' own hypocrisy is completely negated by pointing out hypothetical examples of hypocrisy in others. As long as one hypocrite exists in the world, somewhere, no one can ever be guilty of hypocrisy. Or, as in your case, as long as someone can even imagine someone being hypocritical, hypocrisy is completely justified. Brilliant, really.

• "Dave made terrible mistakes and has to live with those mistakes," Apparently, lying about those "mistakes" repeatedly for years on end is part of 'living with your mistakes'. Doesn't "redemption" require that the guilty person come clean about their "mistakes". Further, how is serial drunk driving realistically considered to be a "mistake"? Did he UNINTENTIONALLY get intoxicated? Did he UNINTENTIONALLY get behind the wheel and drive when he was intoxicated? Was he somehow unaware that DUI is a crime? He gambled that he wouldn't get caught, and he DID get caught. That is not a "mistake"; it's a calculated risk, and one that he lost. But then to be caught several MORE times doing the SAME thing proves that it is not a "mistake" at all. It becomes a wilful, deliberate, and reckless DECISION.

• MacLaughlin is a volunteer on T-Paw's staff. Oh, and he hasn't killed anyone.

• Uh, forgiveness also requires contrition. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me, fool me three times--you f'ng prick. Hide all the details no forgiveness for YOU! Perhaps T-Paw should vet a bit more carefully. He should have some sympathy for that given that Palin one-upped him for veep based on a selection process by the McCain camp that seemed to be based on an 8x10 glossy.

• The sad thing about all of this is that a man that has lost his driver's license for 8 years, has lost that license for a reason. He is a repeat offender. This is not victimless crime. Drunk Driving KILLS. This is the problem with our society as a whole. I couldn't care less if this guys is Republican or Democrat. If a person has been arrested for drunk driving once. MISTAKE - MAJOR SCREW UP. Arrested for drunk driving 3 times. A CRIMINAL THAT HAS A COMPLETE DISREGARD FOR THE LIVES OF ALL OTHER PEOPLE ON THE ROAD. Ask someone that has lost a loved one to a drunk driver. What do they think of hiring drunk drivers.

• If he hires crackheads, they can double as City Pages reporters.

• There's a name for "classy journalism" - it's called "public relations", which ain't exactly hard-hitting, honest reportage in any case. (Lord, even Fox News doesn't pretend to be "classy"!)

• Why don't you just come out and say that you don't like Tim Pawlenty or any republican for that matter. It would be one thing if you were honest enough to say that your just a partisan political hack. At least I could respect that your only voicing your opinion that you hate all republicans instead of acting like your just some do-gooder pointing out the evils being perpetrated by the right. I don't like Pawlenty because he's a rhino and a greenie but what kind of country do we live in where we tell anyone that has been convicted of a crime "no, there is no forgiveness for you, just leave us alone and die!" Just because someone has had an addiction doesn't mean he or she is worthless or worth less. Perhaps all they need is a second chance at making a difference.

• Don't care, don't care, don't care, don't care... When is the article going to be written about Nick and the handful of mistakes he's made that we should judge him solely by?

• "It should be noted that no one at the paper is running for office or working for anyone running for office." It should also be said that journalism should be classy and somewhat balanced. What is Citypages excuse now? Drinking on the job, maybe?

• Drunk drivers, Republican or not, are jerks.

• I don't suppose that VMM is prepared to publish the driving, drinking, and possibly felony records of employees and reporters, are they?

• These former drunk drivers should be removed from society and placed on an iceberg. Nobody should ever be given a chance to turn their life around. Unless they are democrats, of course.

• Thank goodness we have caught this evil person who is incapable of change. Maybe now he won't have a chance to lie about "I did not have sexual relations with that woman" like that other perfect highest office in the WORLD guy. Personally, I'm still looking for that perfect political figure, you know, the one that never lies, never fibs, listens to both sides of a story, yeah, that one. I have standards! But, even the guy in the mirror doesn't cut it. Must try harder. Still, I liked the informative article Nick! I'm voting for the Pinto even if he does or does not have ex-con friends.

• Busted.

• Certainly a biased and spun story, but it's not worthless as Jhhljl suggests. Persons who run for public and elected office should be transparent about who they are. A convicted felon with 3 DUI's and a track record of hiding his convictions is not a good example of who we want in office. The forgive and forget quote from TP's office is saddening. 3 DUI's and 6 months in jail is NOT an easily accomplished feat and it should not be easily forgiven.

• This kind of "You do it too!" finger-pointing is ABSOLUTELY idiotic. So what if there are CityPages staffers who have DUI convictions? They work for a goddamn newspaper, not a man making a run at the highest office in the WORLD. Is it a double standard? Maybe. But that's life. I wouldn't vote for Nick Pinto, no matter how clean his criminal record is. That dude's a practicing Raelian!

• Thanks for your comment. It should be noted that no one at the paper is running for office or working for anyone running for office. When you do the latter, you obviously open yourself up for pretty aggressive scrutiny, and this is not the first time that Pawlenty has made what feels like (to me, anyway) lazy and uniformed decisions about people and their character (e.g. Giefert).

• How many people at city pages have drunk-driving backgrounds? In any organization at large? Probably the number is higher than most expect. Stories like these fulfill your desire for sensationalistic biased reporting, but they actually offer little information given the lack of additional context.

• Republicans are always quick to forgive their own. It's everybody else that they have problems with...

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