President Obama wasn’t even one year into his term when Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty made his initial foray last December to the first-in-the-nation primary state. Thursday night he returned for a second time, fueling speculation that he’ll run for president in 2012.
Speaking exclusively to Fox News, Pawlenty said, “I’ve been going to lots of different states trying to help candidates in 2010 get elected so we can get this country back on a prosperous, hopefully job growing better path than what we’re seeing out of Washington now. But as to the future in 2012 I haven’t made any decisions yet.”
A December poll by the University of New Hampshire found Pawlenty has little name recognition in the state. Hoping to boost his visibility the two term governor delivered the keynote address at the Manchester Republican Committee’s Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner.
The crowd of 250 people gave Pawlenty a standing ovation when he took the podium, and he quickly questioned the direction the Obama administration is moving the country. “Our current leadership of this country, the so called progressives … Now they use that term like they’re forward leaning. They imply through the term that they’re progressive, looking into the future. But what they’re really doing is trying to contrast the 21st century challenges of America with these solutions from Eastern Europe from a century ago and they don’t work.”
The 49-year old republican is a fiscal conservative and said the government’s finances and huge deficit are endangering the nation’s stability. “Our nation, our beloved United States of America goes around the world, tin cup in hand and asks places like communist China, asks places like Middle East sovereign wealth funds to buy our debt because if they don’t we can’t pay our bills. The United States of America is not a beggar nation.”
The governor was joined at the event by his wife, Mary and they did the kind of retail politicking New Hampshire is famous for, working the room and shaking lots of hands. Most of those at the dinner were Republican politicians and activists, the very people he will need on his side if he decides to throw his hat into the race. Pawlenty has already announced he will not seek reelection to a third term in Minnesota, leaving him plenty of time to contemplate his future. “I will make a decision in early 2011,” he said, “but I certainly haven’t made it yet.”