Pawlenty Declares Candidacy and Takes On Politically Popular Programs

[steve2470]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/politics/24pawlenty.html

DES MOINES — Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota formally opened his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday and presented himself as a candidate willing to confront tough political choices, pledging to reinvent or dismantle programs like ethanol subsidies, Medicare and Social Security to address the nation’s fiscal burdens.

“We need to cut spending, and we need to cut it big-time,” Mr. Pawlenty said. “The hard truth is that there are no longer any sacred programs.”

One day after Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana decided against joining the Republican presidential race, Mr. Pawlenty moved to occupy a newly created space in the party’s nominating contest. He issued a call for austerity, shared sacrifice and truth telling, while working behind the scenes to recruit donors and influential activists who had urged Mr. Daniels to enter the race to challenge President Obama next year.

The formality of declaring a candidacy was hardly a surprise for Mr. Pawlenty, who has made dozens of visits to Iowa and other early-voting states over the last year. But the timing could not have been better for him, with undecided Republican primary voters having additional reason to take a look in the wake of Mr. Daniels’s decision not to run.