Tim Pawlenty stirred up a hornets' nest when he called for setting a goal of 5% real economic growth. On the political left, Michael Ellinger of the liberal Center for American Progress commented, "It's patently ridiculous. It's not worth serious discussion." On the political right, Kevin Williamson had earlier declared on Larry Kudlow's TV show that believing in 5% growth was like believing in "magic unicorns".

The truth is that sustained, 5% real economic growth is not only realistic, it is necessary. Only a prolonged period of very fast economic growth will get unemployment down to a tolerable level in a reasonable length of time. Such a "growth spurt" is also needed to get the federal deficit and debt under control. To date, Pawlenty is the only presidential candidate who...