Politico:
Pawlenty is working hard to court evangelical Christian voters.
A devout evangelical himself, Pawlenty made three stops around Iowa Monday in an effort to win over the influential voting bloc that helped put Ronald Reagan in the White House and later gave George W. Bush two terms.
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"It's important that we acknowledge and begin with the notion that this was a country and is a country that is founded under God," he declared on the final stop on the Family Leader lecture series at Dordt College in Sioux City. "This not the rhetoric of a politician passing through town. This is a foundational concept for our nation."
But Pawlenty, who was the first would-be 2012 candidate to address the social conservative advocacy group, is just one of several prospective Republican presidential candidates vying for evangelicals' support. The Family Leader announced Monday that Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who ran for president in 2008, will speak on March 7. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and radio talk show host and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain are also scheduled to do the presidential lecture series.
The event builds through October and leads up to the Iowa caucuses — now a year away.
"I don't know if he's going to end up running for president or not, but I sure hope he does," said the group's president, Bob Vander Plaats, introducing Pawlenty. "He'd be very, very good for the discussion. He's threaded with the right stuff."
And Pawlenty's wife Mary, who inspired him to convert from Catholicism, drove all the way from the Twin Cities to stand by his side and deliver her own ringing endorsement.
"After 23 years of marriage you know everything about this person," she said. "You know the core of who they are and you know their heart. And while I believe Tim is the strongest and one of the smartest people I've ever met, he's also the kindest. He is genuinely one these people when you hear the phrase, 'what you see if what you get' — that's who my husband is."
While it was a Christian-centered event, T-Paw did take considerable time to veer off course and speak about job creation, the federal debt, his blue-collar roots, school choice, Reagan's 100th birthday and his rebuke of President Obama's health care reform.
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These are some of the Iowa voters he will have to appeal to, but I think he is strong on the other issues such as cutting spending. He does come across as a really nice guy. I think he may be the sleeper in this race.
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