Pawlenty Backs Off McCain's Bridge Theory

(ST. PAUL, Minn.) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a leading supporter of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, warned Thursday against a rush to judgment about the cause of the a Minneapolis bridge collapse a day after the senator blamed it on wasteful pork-barrel spending.

Pawlenty is a national co-chairman of McCain's campaign and is often mentioned as a possible running mate. He's stepping gingerly around the comments McCain made in Pennsylvania that the Interstate 35W bridge failure last summer could be traced to members of Congress diverting federal funds to wasteful projects.

Pawlenty said McCain's remarks were his opinion and that everyone should reserve judgment until federal investigators release findings later this year. Investigators have focused on an apparent design flaw involving beam-connecting gusset plates and construction weight above vulnerable components at the time of the failure.

"We have to let the NTSB weigh in on this before anybody can make a final conclusion," Pawlenty said, referring to a National Transportation Safety Board probe expected to conclude this summer or fall.

In Pennsylvania on Wednesday, McCain told reporters: "The bridge in Minneapolis didn't collapse because there wasn't enough money. The bridge in Minneapolis collapsed because so much money was spent on wasteful, unnecessary pork-barrel projects."

Asked if McCain's comments were appropriate or should be corrected, Pawlenty said, "I don't know what he's basing that on other than the general premise that projects got misprioritized throughout time."

He said he called the McCain campaign to remind them of the upcoming NTSB report.

But Pawlenty struck a much different tone than he took when reacting to political foes who previously questioned the role of deferred maintenance in the collapse that killed 13 people and injured 145. After the NTSB issued its preliminary findings in January, Pawlenty admonished critics to "quit using the bridge, quit exploiting the bridge tragedy to advance their political agenda."

Outside a joint appearance Thursday, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak pulled Pawlenty aside and called the McCain comments inappropriate.

"I'm surprised he is saying something different than the governor, who has said that this wasn't about resources," the Democratic mayor told reporters. "More important, I believe it is very problematic for politicians to use the catastrophe."

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