Looking to gain some traction in the presidential field, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is up with the first Iowa television advertisement of the 2012 presidential campaign, highlighting his record as governor while suggesting some of his GOP rivals offer some of the same empty rhetoric that he blames for the country’s current problems.
“A lot of candidates will come to Iowa and say the same things,” he says in the “Results Not Rhetoric” ad. “The question is, have they done it?”
SEE RELATED:
Then he rattles off what he sees as his biggest accomplishments during his two terms as Minnesota’s chief executive.
“In a liberal state, I reduced spending in real terms for the first time, took on the government unions and won, appointed a conservative Supreme Court and passed health care reform the right way — no mandates, no takeovers,” he says. “If I can do it in Minnesota, we can do it in Washington.”
Political prognosticators suggest that Mr. Pawlenty must do well in the Iowa caucuses to have a chance of winning the GOP nomination. If so, his path to victory will get more difficult on Monday when Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, announces her official candidacy in Iowa, the state in which she was born.
