If loyalty ranks high on Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) checklist for a running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has to be on his short list.

The second-term Republican governor of a historically blue state jumped on board with the GOP presidential candidate all the way back in November 2006 and rode out the rough times late last year.

But if McCain is looking for a complement and someone who can deliver him a home state, Pawlenty is more of a mixed bag.

With vice presidential jockeying now in full swing, Pawlenty has been burnishing his conservative credentials on the national scene. They include signing conceal-and-carry legislation into law and setting a record for vetoes while facing a heavily Democratic legislature.

In a lengthy interview with The Hill, Pawlenty emphasized those parts of his record and defended other, less conservative aspects.

He called himself a “mainstream conservative,” but he has also reached out to groups not always thought of as core GOP constituencies, including environmentalists.

While facing opposition from the right in his first campaign for governor, he talked about Republicans being the party of Sam’s Club rather than just the country club.

Today, he clarifies that the GOP needs both in the current political environment.

“If you look at my record as a whole, it’s clearly conservative,” Pawlenty said. “This idea that it’s moderate is, I don’t think, a very full look at it.”

He also brings positive credentials as a young and affable public figure who comes from a working-class background. Concerns about McCain’s age — the GOP candidate would be the oldest president in history if elected — could be mollified by having a 47-year-old two-term executive on the ticket, and Pawlenty certainly has his cheerleaders.

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) said it’s a mistake to come at a potential McCain-Pawlenty ticket from a strictly political perspective. Coleman calls Pawlenty “a really decent person” who is well-liked by nearly everyone who knows him.

“One of the key characteristics for a vice presidential candidate is for the president to be able to campaign and not worry about the vice president,” Coleman said. “Tim Pawlenty is as solid as you can get on a personal level, on a life-story level, on a confidence level.”

Apart from the age question, though, experts are skeptical that Pawlenty offers McCain much as far as delivering Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes or wooing key voter groups.

His two terms in a historically Democratic state are no small accomplishment, but Pawlenty has only decent approval ratings (around 50 percent in recent polling), and he hasn’t won a majority in either of his gubernatorial campaigns.

“Nationwide, I’m not sure what Pawlenty brings to the ticket for him,” said Hamline University Professor David Schultz. “I’m not sure if Pawlenty has the overwhelming support of either religious conservatives or business conservatives in ways that shore up those bases for McCain.”