Pawlenty trip raises profile with Iowa Republicans

Des Moines, IA -- Iowa's 2012 presidential preference caucuses are more than two years away, but if past history is any indicator the top contenders will have to lay the groundwork very early.

That's one of the reasons Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's trip south of the border Saturday drew so much attention from political pundits. He headlined a fundraiser that raised $100,000 for Iowa Republicans, who are going all out to recapture the governor's mansion in 2010.

"Normally for this fall event we get 300 people, but tonight we've got 800 here," former Iowa GOP state chairman Chuck Larson told KARE, "So Governor Pawlenty is definitely a big draw."

Larson, who went to Iraq as a member of the Army Reserves, said he first met Pawlenty in 2005 while working with families who'd lost loved ones in Iraq.

"He's very genuine, very honest," Larson said, "And that goes along way with Iowa Republicans."

In national polls Pawlenty still lags behind some of the big name politicians who campaigned in Iowa leading up to the 2008 caucuses.  Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who won in Iowa that year, is the presumptive front runner.

Larson said Minnesota's chief executive has plenty of time to catch up in Iowa, should he decide to seek the presidency.

"I think he'll do very, very well because Minnesotans and Iowans are very much alike," Larson remarked, "We're humble, we're down to earth. And that's who he is. I think he'll be well received."

Crowd pleaser

Among those clapping enthusiastically in the Des Moines crowd Saturday was Rep. Linda Upmeyer of the northern Iowa town of Garner.

"People were looking for a good message, clear leadership and good ideas," Upmeyer told KARE, "And I think he had that. He hit a home run with this crowd."

Upmeyer, who is a cardiac nurse and state lawmaker,  said that Pawlenty -- or any successful candidate for that matter -- will have to spend a lot of time on the ground here to make inroads for 2012.

"This is just the way you get to know people in Iowa, and people get to know you," she said, "I think that's the key to success in Iowa. If you spend enough time here people will believe you're the real deal."

In his speech Pawlenty attacked the health care reform bill that passed the U.S. House on the same night, as well as Democrats' efforts to curb greenhouse gases through a market based emissions control system known as cap and trade.

"Unemployment this week reached 10.2 percent, but you've got the Democratic controlled Congress is messing around with a miserable health care bill, a terrible cap-n-trade bill," Pawlenty told the crowd, "We should be focused like a laser on jobs, not acting like a manure spreader in a wind storm."

Pawlenty created additional buzz by launching his own political action committee, the Freedom First PAC a few days earlier in Minneapolis.  He has also assembled a team of volunteer campaign consultants, including many with experience in the John McCain and George W. Bush campaigns.

But, as for his trip to Iowa, he downplayed connections to the 2012 presidential race or his part in it.

"You know I'm focused on the 2010 elections," Pawlenty told a group of political reporters as he left the Des Moines event, "I'm going to try to help in Minnesota and across the country to get more Republicans elected."

Winning profile

In Iowa Pawlenty can project himself as a fresh political face, with a full set of conservative, evangelical credentials. And he's never lost an election running as a Republican in a Democratic leaning state.

In his speech Pawlenty's highlighted his electability factor.

"You're looking at a governor who won in the land of Hubert Humphrey, who won in the land of Walter Mondale," he said, "A governor who won in the land of Senator Al Franken."

He also told the group he just became the first governor in Minnesota's history to cut real spending compared to the previous budget cycle.  Pawlenty didn't mention he accomplished that by using his unallotment powers to avoid protracted budget negotiations with lawmakers, a tool traditionally reserved for fiscal emergencies.

While his trip clearly raised his profile with GOP faithful in Iowa, it did not garner a lot of local press coverage. The Sunday edition of the Des Moines Register focused more on the Iowa gubernatorial candidates who appeared at the same meeting.  The Register placed its Pawlenty story on page 3B.

Pawlenty is not running for re-election in 2010, after deciding not to seek a third term.  At least 8 Republicans are vying for the GOP endorsement and nomination in Minnesota.

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