Video: Pawlenty Announces Candidacy a Day Early

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pawlenty[Video below.] On the eve of his own planned campaign announcement, Tim Pawlenty released an Internet video declaring that he is running for president because he – unlike President Obama – has the courage to face America’s challenges.

In another slickly produced video that has become a hallmark of his campaign, Mr. Pawlenty, the former Republican governor of Minnesota, confirmed Sunday night that he would officially begin his bid for his party’s nomination in Iowa on Monday.

“That’s where I am going to begin a campaign that tells the American people the truth,” Mr. Pawlenty says in the two-minute video, mincing no words about his intentions. “I’m Tim Pawlenty, and I’m running for president of the United States.”

There has been little doubt in recent months that Mr. Pawlenty would take this step. Of all the potential Republican candidates, Mr. Pawlenty has been the least coy, assembling a campaign staff, traveling to states that hold early contests and commenting quickly on events of the day.

But for all his efforts, Mr. Pawlenty still faces a major challenge: he remains one of the least known faces in the Republican field, having almost no national profile on which to base a campaign.

That he recognizes that challenge was evident in the ad he released Sunday night. Like his other videos, it seeks to introduce Mr. Pawlenty to viewers by quickly walking them through his biography.

“I grew up in a blue-collar town,” he says in the video. “My dad worked as a truck driver. My mom died when I was a teenager, and I was the first in our family to graduate from college. As governor of Minnesota, I moved our Democratic state in a conservative direction.”

He finishes his bio by adding: “I know the American dream, because I lived it.”

The Democrats were quick to pounce on the candidate.

“After running for President for over two years, the question isn’t whether Tim Pawlenty is running or not. It’s why – a question he has yet to find an answer to, said Hari Sevugan of the Democratic Party’s national operation. “But he shouldn’t look for the answer from the people of Minnesota whose taxes he raised, services he cut and who he left with a $6 billion deficit. They’re scratching their heads too.”

In his video, Mr. Pawlenty takes no shots at his potential Republican rivals. But he does take aim at President Obama, saying bluntly that the current president does not have the courage to confront the nation’s challenges.

“We need a president who understands that our problems are deep and who has the courage to face them,” Mr. Pawlenty says. “President Obama doesn’t. I do.”

Instead of “fancy speeches,” Mr. Pawlenty says, taking another shot at Mr. Obama, “you’ll hear solutions. Together, we’ll change our country. And this time, it’ll be for the better.”

Click below to watch:



{The New York Times/Matzav.com Newscenter}


1 COMMENT

  1. Nothing on Herman Cain’s announcement? Or do blacks not count?

    Matzav.com, please re-host videos on your servers for those who cannot access YouTube.

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