Pawlenty a better bowler than Obama — but who isn’t?

By The Hill Staff - 06/13/11 07:43 PM ET

Tim Pawlenty is hoping to beat President Obama in 2012, but he already tops him in one area — bowling.

The former Minnesota governor took a break from debate preparations on Sunday to go bowling with his staffers. (Who goes bowling in the summer?)

Anyway, a senior aide said Pawlenty’s game is solid.

“For the record, @tim pawlenty (“T”) beat  @BarackObama by second frame,” Alex Conant, Pawlenty’s spokesman, tweeted Sunday, along with a picture of the scoreboard.

Pawlenty had a 37 by the second frame, which was Obama’s total score when he went bowling in the run-up to the 2008 Pennsylvania primary. (To be fair, Obama only bowled seven frames, though he was on track for a paltry 53.)

Obama was mocked for his score — particularly by the late-night talk show hosts — but managed to redeem himself in August 2009, when he bowled with friends at Camp David.

The president bowled a 144 with three strikes that time, according to his then-spokesman, Robert Gibbs.

But that didn’t top Pawlenty’s total on Sunday. The GOP presidential contender had a final score of 151, according to Conant’s tweets.

Pawlenty was in New Hampshire over the weekend, preparing for Monday night’s GOP primary debate in Manchester.