Posted on 03/21/2011 12:02:12 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Tim Pawlenty’s Facebook site asks people to drop by at 3 ET for “a special message exclusive to Facebook supporters.” CNN reports that the former Minnesota governor will announce his first official step into the 2012 presidential race and become the third Republican to launch an exploratory committee:
Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty is expected to announce Monday the formation of a presidential exploratory committee, several sources tell CNN. Such a committee allows candidates to start raising money and is seen as the first concrete step towards a run for a party nomination.
The formation by Pawlenty has long been expected as he has been traveling to key early-voting states recruiting advisers and beginning to lay out his vision for the country.
A source close to Pawlenty and a senior Republican source briefed on the decision to form the committee confirmed the announcement will be Monday afternoon.
This is a mere formality, of course. Unlike with Newt Gingrich, whose history of playing a tango on presidential aspirations still makes his ultimate intent somewhat debatable, Pawlenty has aimed at this moment since 2009, when he formed his PAC. He has campaigned and raised funds for Congressional candidates around the country, organized efficiently, and spent plenty of time in Iowa and New Hampshire. No one will be surprised in the least to see him announce an exploratory committee launch.
Basically, though, this changes nothing. Pawlenty still does not have to disclose contributions to his PAC or his expenditures until he officially launches a presidential campaign committee. It does give Pawlenty more visibility as a potential candidate, and will attract attention from the media as a player for the 2012 sweepstakes, at least until the next candidate announces an exploratory committee of their own.
So far, this has been a fairly relaxed GOP rollout, or at least more relaxed than in 2008, when candidates rushed to toss their hats into the ring. The announcements of Herman Cain and Gingrich didn’t speed up the process, but the move by Pawlenty might entice some of the higher-tiered candidates to match him and blunt the media spike he’ll get from it.
Trump's already way ahead of Timmie.../s
This is looking like it’s going to be one seriously crowded field.
Since I was 11 years old I’ve had a fascination for the horse races of presidential politics. I’ll be burnt out by the 2nd Wednesday in November 2012 but right now I’m ready for the race to start.
RINO wimp bump
I guess we can all heave a great big, collective sigh of relief, now that Pawlenty’s got his finger to the wind.
Please, take my advice! Don’t waste your time or money pal. Ain’t gonna happen!
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
That's about when I caught the bug. Of course, it helped that it was right around that time when the Dems held their '68 convention. It was fantastic.
Not coincidentally, that was also the time when I realized Democrats were mentally unstable.
“Since I was 11 years old I’ve had a fascination for the horse races of presidential politics. I’ll be burnt out by the 2nd Wednesday in November 2012 but right now I’m ready for the race to start.”
Me too. From my age of 4 to 12, the VP was from the town my mother grew up in, and I was born in.
The VP then won the party’s Pres. nomination, lost, but later became President. That all took place before I could vote.
OK...you have me stumped...
When I was nine, in 1976, I watched both parties conventions. I lived near Los Angeles, and I hoped that the nominees would be Reagan and Brown, partly since both of them were from Calif. In 1984, I wished that I could have voted for Reagan, but my 18th birthday was in March 1985. I told my parents they should have conceived me six months earlier, and they agreed.
It begins. (Why this isn’t in breaking is unknown to me.)
Someone has to help fill the stage and leave early.
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