Kaine, Pawlenty talk up their candidates

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WASHINGTON, June 8 (UPI) -- The governors of Virginia and Minnesota Sunday took turns touting their parties' candidates for president and knocking the other side.

Republican Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota said on "Fox News Sunday" he sees presumptive GOP nominee John McCain as having a good chance of winning in the Upper Midwest, despite current polls mostly showing him trailing Barack Obama, the Illinois senator who has the Democratic nomination sewn up.

Obama, Pawlenty said, "is somebody who's been out of the mainstream not just of America but of his party."

"He's somebody who has taken positions that have regularly ranked lockstep, almost robotically, with the Democratic caucus and liberal interest groups," Pawlenty said.

McCain, he said, "has consistently and regularly reached across the aisle to get things done in a big way."

Democrat Tim Kaine of Virginia countered that he relishes the match-up between Obama and McCain because of their clear differences.

McCain, Kaine said, "very much is going to pursue policies that have been the policies of the Bush administration."

"He's a stay-the-course candidate on Iraq and on the economy at a time when Americans want a change in direction," Kaine said.

Obama works across party lines without "demonizing the opposition," Kaine said.

Pawlenty and Kaine are both considered possible running mates.