We had always known that Mitt Romney’s vice presidential tap would be an “incredibly boring white guy,” but never in our dullest dreams did we image Tim Pawlenty, he of the goofy videos and nerds-only hockey jersey, would be an actual forerunner. True story: if you look up “incredibly boring white guy” in the dictionary, there’s an in memoriam notice for the dictionary’s editor, who died of boredom while trying to decide which picture of Tim Pawlenty to use.

The former Minnesota governor’s “low-maintenance personal style. . . has made him a favorite with the campaign’s tight-knit inner circle at the Boston headquarters,” Politico reports. Pawlenty is also “the hockey-playing son of a blue-collar worker,” a nice contrast to Romney, the dressage-tolerating kid of a guy who fired blue-collar workers.