Commitment 2012: Pawlenty announces Presidential Exploratory Committee

Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty visits Pella Iowa, February 7, 2011 (photo Ken Allsup)

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced last week that he has formed an exploratory commitee to explore a bid for President. Pawlenty is the first major candidate to announce the formation of an exploratory committee. Pawlenty’s announcement came via a video on his Facebook page. In addition to serving as Minnesota’s Governor, Pawlenty was on John McCain’s short list of Vice Presidential candidates. In his announcement, Pawlenty cited several of his beliefs of what the government and country should be like. A smaller government, less government spending, and encouraging the small business owners/innovators were addressed by Pawlenty in his video.

While Pawlenty may be the only major candidate to announce an exploratory committee, two other candidates have announced committees. Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer and Businessman Hermain Cain both have announced committee’s over the past couple of months. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich came one step away from announcing the formation of a committee last month. Instead, Gingrich launched a website to “test the waters” for a Presidential run in 2012.

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