DES MOINES – It’s often been noted that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty doesn’t seem temperamentally suited to attack his rival candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. But attacking rival candidates is part of politics. So Pawlenty, with his political ambitions on the line in Iowa, has compiled an uneven record when it comes to negative campaigning. The best known example was his “Obamneycare” shot at Mitt Romney during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, followed by Pawlenty’s decision not to press his case when face-to-face with Romney at a New Hampshire debate the next day.

Now Pawlenty practices something that might be called the non-attack attack.  At a breakfast with a small group of reporters in Des Moines Monday, he repeatedly suggested that other candidates in the GOP contest were unqualified, not credible, and in the race to win a spot on cable TV — and then retreated when asked to attach specific names to his accusations.