Tim Pawlenty 2012: Will Pawlenty Run For President in 2012?

Written by Derek Thomas Saturday, 09 April 2011 15:49

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.

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.

With two gubernatorial wins in Minnesota, which is often referred to as a swing state, Pawlenty shows electability at the national level. He is married to Mary Pawlenty and they are raising their two daughters, Anna and Mara, together. Pawlenty was born a Roman Catholic, but converted to being Baptist to match his wife's faith. Pawlenty is a social conservative and now a devout evangelical Christian; he regularly attends Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie.

Pawlenty is a religious conservative and will protect the sanctity of marriage if he were to be president of the United States. He disagrees with civil unions, gay marriage and would reenact the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy in the military. As governor he created a 24 wait law for women who apply to have an abortion, which was as much as he could accomplish in such a liberal leaning state. However Pawlenty has stated that the Roe V Wade verdict was ultimately the wrong decision. At a March for Life rally in 2006 he said, "We have a dream today that someday soon this will not be an anniversary of sadness, but an anniversary of justice restored."

Pawlenty is also fiscally conservative, while governor of Minnesota for eight years he accomplished major budget cuts. In his first term as governor he balanced a four billion dollar state budget deficit without raising any taxes. In his subsequent term he managed to wipe out a 2.7 billion dollar deficit by cutting government spending, shifting money around in various state funds, and cutting programs. His fiscal stance on major budget cuts triggered a government shutdown in 2005 that lasted 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.