Wrapped in the Flag

Tim Pawlenty, Minnesota’s 39th governor from 2004-2010, is planning a run for the White House in 2012. However, he has recently stated he will wait 45 days until he makes a formal statement to the press. Pawlenty recently secured the support of former 2008 Huckabee campaign manager, Eric Woolson, and has been building a team throughout the starting primary states. With John Thune’s decision not to run some argue Pawlenty will win over many socially conservative mid-westerners. Tea Party favorites Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin look like they might not be making a bid for the White House this time around and may give their support to Pawlenty in the republican primary.

Pawlenty stated during his speech earlier this week at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition that if he can win two terms as governor in a liberal state like Minnesota, then he can be a viable candidate for the presidency of the United States. He quoted Frank Sinatra’s “New York New York” by saying if he can make it in Minnesota then he can make it anywhere. He is a social conservative candidate that reflects the values of Christian conservatives and he also addresses the fiscal needs that American’s are looking for. Pawlenty is married to Mary Pawlenty and they have two daughters, Anna and Mara. Although raised a Roman Catholic, he became an evangelical to match his wife’s faith and regularly attends a Baptists church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

As a social conservative, Pawlenty believes the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade was a wrong decision and as governor he enacted a 24 hour waiting period for women who wish to receive an abortion in the state of Minnesota. Pawlenty has been publically outspoken on the issue of gay marriage, saying that it should not be legalized. Moreover he has stated that if he were president he would restore the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell law that restricts homosexuals from serving openly.

Tim Pawlenty has a strong background on eradicating government waste. As governor of Minnesota Pawlenty cut the budget drastically in both his terms, his first term he fixed the budget by almost five billion dollars and in his second term he eliminated the budget deficit by nearly 3 billion dollars all while raising no taxes. However it wasn’t an easy task, Pawlenty had to face many of the state legislators who were unwilling to take cuts which caused the infamous 2005 shutdown of the Minnesota state government for ten days.

The latest Tea Party poll shows that Tim Pawlenty has a slight lead over Sarah Palin, a Tea Party favorite. This could indicate a reason why both Pawlenty and Palin have waiting to make any official announcements about a candidacy. Similar platform candidates may ultimately end up splitting votes causing an unfavorable candidate to win the republican candidacy. Pawlenty in a recent statement said republicans ought to follow Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment in which he declared that Republicans shouldn’t speak ill of each other.

Derek Thomas is the editor-in-chief of republican2012.org and is writing the news on the latest 2012 republican candidates. You can show your support for the Tim Pawlenty 2012 campaign by purchasing Pawlenty 2012 Bumper Stickers and Pawlenty 2012 t-shirts.