Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty at the Ames Straw Poll said that while Iowa’s Democrats propelled Barack Obama toward the White House, today is the day where Iowans can send a message that he has got to go.
Pawlenty said we need to be a nation that puts their trust in God first and foremost. He then said we can’t spend more than we take in. He said we need to maintain the peace by maintaining our strength. He said we need to send a message to the President that we need get the government off our backs.
He called for the repeal of Obamacare and for a Balanced Budget Amendment.
He said that many of the candidates will say many of the same things. He said like we found with President Barack Obama we have discovered that words are not enough. “It has to be more than words, we have to deliver.”
He said in Minnesota they cut taxes, reformed healthcare without individual mandates, protected life, defended traditional marriage, and reformed public employee pensions. He said he got elected and reelected in one of the most difficult states in American. He said because of this he can compete in difficult states.
He said, “We are the American people, we are a government of the people, for the people and by the people. If we defend our country our nation will not perish from the earth.”
Quick thoughts: Good speech and good response, lighter in substance than Santorum’s speech was, but it was well received. Nothing earth shattering, but said nothing that will harm him either. A typical stump speech with lines I’ve heard him give before. It was safe.