Oops: Pawlenty Staffer Charged With Public Intoxication

Memo to political staffers of presidential wannabes: Try to remember the correct house where you're staying in Iowa, try not to vomit in strange backyards, and, above all, try to avoid having quotes like this show up about you in newspaper accounts: “His arm was in my back door, trying to get in, and I screamed and I went upstairs to my parents’ room and I continued screaming. And then my dad opened his safe and got his gun out, and just stayed inside.”

Such is the tale of a 24-year-old staffer of Tim Pawlenty's political action committee, reports KCCI-TV. Benjamin Foster apparently got drunk, got confused where he was staying, and tried to break into the wrong home—at about 3:30am. The earlier quote came from a 15-year-old girl who went downstairs to see what the dog was barking at. Foster has been suspended from Pawlenty's staff for two weeks and has apologized for his "serious mistake," notes the Des Moines Register. He is charged with public intoxication and trespassing. Click for another take on this "revolutionary" way to greet voters. (More Iowa stories.)