Pawlenty focused on opposing Obama administration

SAN DIEGO — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), a potential presidential candidate in 2012, says he will spend the next several years using his public platform to speak out against the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress.

“I believe strongly that what’s happening in Washington, D.C., right now in the form of the Obama administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress is not good for our country. I’m going to speak against that, and I’m also going to speak in favor of a better way,” Pawlenty told The Hill in an interview Thursday.

{mosads}The two-term Minnesota Republican, who has begun raising his profile as he prepares to consider a possible White House bid, will address the Republican National Committee at its annual meeting Thursday. He will use the speech to introduce himself and to offer GOP alternatives to Obama’s approach to the federal budget, healthcare reform and foreign affairs, an adviser said.

But though he has been an increasing presence in speaking out against healthcare reform sponsored by Democrats in Congress, which he says costs too much money, Pawlenty maintains his own White House bid is not on his mind.

“I’m really not focused on 2012 and neither should anybody else be focused on 2012,” Pawlenty said. “I haven’t ruled anything in and I haven’t ruled anything out. I just genuinely have not decided what I want to do down the road.”

But he is increasingly taking steps that many see as an interest in running.

Last week, in a letter to the Minnesota congressional delegation urging them to oppose the Democratic healthcare plan, Pawlenty said Commonwealth Care, the Massachusetts effort to expand healthcare coverage, is too expensive. That plan was championed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R), another potential 2012 candidate, and Pawlenty’s letter was interpreted by some as a shot at a future rival.

“It didn’t contain costs, and I don’t think that’s really debatable,” Pawlenty said Thursday. He insisted the three-page letter — one paragraph of which focused on Commonwealth Care — was not intended to take on Romney.

“It wasn’t meant to be a shot at Gov. Romney. It’s just that, as the country looks for options, particularly as it relates to containing costs, that’s not one we should follow,” Pawlenty said. “[Romney] hasn’t been governor there for going on four years. I’m sure if he was governor for the last four years he would have done something to try to fix it.”

Instead of intra-party feuds, Pawlenty is focusing his attention on contrasting Republicans with majority Democrats. Asked how the GOP should attract minority voters who have largely voted for Democrats in recent years, Pawlenty said education would be the key in prying Hispanic and African-American voters out of the Democratic coalition.

“We have an education system that is miserably failing disadvantaged students, that disproportionately impacts students of color, including Hispanics and African-Americans. The Democrats will not meaningfully address education reform and can’t because they’re so handcuffed by the teacher unions, which is one of the main power centers of their party,” Pawlenty said.

“We should go into that debate boldly, confidently, and say to the minority community, You are not being well-served by the Democrats,” he added. “It’s a civil rights issue, it’s clearly an economic development issue, it’s a jobs issue, it’s a moral issue.”

{mosads}It is not the first time Pawlenty has been on the national stage. When Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) contemplated a running mate in his White House bid, Pawlenty made the short list. In the end, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) was chosen. Pawlenty said he had deduced he was not the choice before McCain called him to let him know.

“I had, frankly, figured it out quite a number of days before the announcement, because I knew the announcement [of a running mate] was going to be in Ohio on Friday and I was scheduled to be in Denver,” said Pawlenty, who spent the Democratic National Convention in Colorado as one of the top Republican rebutters.

“I didn’t just fall off the rutabaga cart,” he laughed. “If you’re going to be announced in Ohio on a certain day, I couldn’t be in Colorado for the preceding two days.”

Pawlenty, an early McCain backer, said his support was not grounded in he himself seeking a promotion.

“It would have been an honor to be asked, and I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Sen. McCain, and I never got into helping him or supporting him because I thought I’d be considered for vice president,” Pawlenty said. “I would have been happy to serve him in a variety of roles, including just being a volunteer.”