It has already begun. The presidential election is over a year away, but former candidates are beginning to endorse their peers. Tim Pawlenty, who dropped out of the race last month, has placed his support behind Mitt Romney in an email to supporters on Monday.

“President Obama has failed to meet America’s economic challenges. … Fortunately, America may get a second chance: Mitt Romney is running for president, and I am proud to endorse him,” said Pawlenty in an email message sent out by the Romney campaign.

“[Romney] believes in the bedrock conservative ideals of limited government and free enterprise,” he continued. “He will stand up for America’s allies when they are threatened, with fortitude. And he will face down our adversaries. He is a formidable person, and he will certainly be a formidable president. Our allies can count on it, and our enemies should expect it.”

“He’s formulated an economic plan-a set of alternatives to the government-oriented programs that Barack Obama has put in place-that is unparalleled in the history of American electoral campaigns. By pressing for fundamental change in the way that Washington taxes and spends, issues regulations, uses energy, interacts with our major trading partners, and deals with our labor force, he fully envisions a way to place America back on the path toward rapid economic growth and full employment.”

Pawlenty also appeared on Fox News on Monday morning. He stated that Romney has significant experience in the private sector, which has influenced his decision to support the former Massachusetts governor. He also criticized Texas governor Rick Perry, specifically Perry’s reference to social security as a “ponzi scheme.”

“Governor Romney wants to fix Social Security — he doesn’t want to abolish it or end it,” Pawlenty said. “He doesn’t believe it should be thrown out — he thinks it should be reformed and fixed.” Responding to questions about his previous criticism of Romney’s health-care program, Pawlenty said he talked to Romney about his concerns and came away reassured.

“Mitt Romney is 100 percent dedicated and committed to repealing Obamacare,” Pawlenty said, citing Romney’s pledge to grant the states waivers from the federal law. Pawlenty will be a national co-chair of Romney’s campaign. He told Fox News that he had no vice presidential aspirations.

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After a rough showing during the Ames Straw Poll, Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, announced on Sunday that he was dropping out of the presidential race. Before his campaign even began, it has come to a premature end after his third place finish in the poll, behind state rival Michele Bachmann and small government favorite Ron Paul.

“I wish it would have been different. But obviously the pathway forward for me doesn’t really exist so we are going to end the campaign,” Pawlenty said on ABC’s “This Week” from Iowa shortly after disclosing his plans in a private conference call with supporters.

Pawlenty senior adviser Phil Musser told media that Pawlenty “just wasn’t willing to risk debt to soldier on — part of why he would have been a good president.”

Pawlenty’s campaign struggled to stand out among a crowded field of GOP candidates. Iowa was a necessary state for Pawlenty to win to even compete for the nomination. “What I brought forward, I thought, was a rational, established, credible, strong record of results, based on experience governing – a two-term governor of a blue state. But I think the audience, so to speak, was looking for something different,” he said.

Pawlenty has already struggled against Bachmann and with Texas governor Rick Perry entering the fray, Pawlenty would have had more difficulty gaining momentum. “I thought I would have made a great president,” Pawlenty said. “I do believe we’re going to have a very good candidate who is going to beat Barack Obama.”

He didn’t immediately suggest who that would be. Bachmann was quick to offer praise to Pawlenty.  ”I wish him well,” Bachmann said. “He brought a really important voice into the race and I am grateful that he was in. He was really a very good competitor.”

Pawlenty said his message “didn’t get the kind of traction or lift that we needed and hoped for coming into the and out of the Ames straw poll. We needed to get some lift to continue on and to have a pathway forward. That didn’t happen.”

Even after the poll though, Pawlenty suggested that he would continue in the race, calling the test vote “an important first step on the road to the Republican nomination and, ultimately, the White House.

“This is a long process to restore America – we are just beginning, and I’m eager for the campaign.”

He conceded though, “We have a lot more work to do.”

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