Another Republican candidate has officially stepped into the ring.  Former Governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty is expected to announce his candidacy on Monday in Iowa according to the Associated Press.  The announcement or the location of the announcement should come as no surprise to anyone.  The first state of the primary season, Iowa is a crucial win for Republican candidates.

Advisers admit that Pawlenty must win or at least have a strong showing in Iowa to have any chance at becoming the Republican candidate that will challenge President Barack Obama next November.  After the announcement on Monday, Pawlenty is expected to head to Florida, New Hampshire, New York and Washington, D.C.

Pawlenty has been long expected to enter the race.  He has been working in some form on his campaign since he was passed over for the 2008 vice presidential nominee by John McCain.  Pawlenty has been attempting to increase his national profile, hired a staff, traveled the country, and started to fundraise.  He resigned as governor in January and set up an exploratory committee in March.

Pawlenty has struggled to attract much attention or increase his standings in the polls.  Republican voters seem to gravitate toward big names such as Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee, who both since have stated they will not run.

Even though the Republican field is still wide open, Pawlenty may have some difficulty.   He is super boring and nearly unrecognizable to casual voters.  He will be running against some much more well known candidates such as Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich.  And that is against the known candidates.  Include Sarah Palin or Michele Bachmann and Pawlenty is even in more trouble.  Pawlenty may be wasting his money for this bid.  Or maybe he is secretly hoping for a vice president nomination.  Either way, he doesn’t have a chance.

Not everyone is counting out Pawlenty though.  He does have a fan base, especially in his home state of Minnesota.

“He is doing the soft sell and the soft sell works in the long run,” said Andy Brehm, a Republican strategist in Minnesota. “This is an entirely self-made guy. I don’t think you could ask for a better spokesman for the free market ideas. He’s worked himself up really from nothing.”

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About the author

Erin Chavez
Erin Whitney-Chavez has been writing professionally since 2009. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure University and received a Master of Arts in mental-health counseling from Argosy University. Erin Whitney-Chavez is a licensed mental health counselor and has worked in the mental-health field for more than 10 years.

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