Tim Pawlenty comes out against farm subsidies. In Iowa.

In his official speech kicking off his campaign:

I’m here today to tell Iowans the truth, too.

America is facing a crushing debt crisis the likes of which we’ve never seen before.  We need to cut spending, and we need to cut it…big time. The hard truth is that there are no longer any sacred programs.

The truth about federal energy subsidies, including federal subsidies for ethanol, is that they have to be phased out.  We need to do it gradually.  We need to do it fairly.  But we need to do it.

Continue reading Tim Pawlenty comes out against farm subsidies. In Iowa.

Tim Pawlenty will officially be running for President tomorrow.

The word is that former Governor Tim Pawlenty will officially announce tomorrow in a town hall in Des Moines, Iowa; judging from his campaign videos, this will be heralded by an overflight of a squadron of F-15E Strike Eagles, an announcement that Minnesota genetic researchers have recreated the passenger pigeon, and T-Paw personally leading a mission to disable the Yellowstone super-volcano caldera before it erupts and destroys the North American continent.

Also, there will be pie.

I kid, I kid: but Tim Pawlenty is certainly taking this campaign highly seriously, and I expect that he’ll be upping said campaigning a good deal in the next few months. With Mike Huckabee and Mitch Daniels out, it’s increasingly looking like Pawlenty is lining up to be the guy to go to if you don’t want to support Romney*. Despite the fact that (at the moment) I am tending towards formally personally endorsing Pawlenty for the nomination, I would actually prefer that the field remain crowded for a bit longer. If only because it frustrates the Democrats so not to have an obvious target for their upcoming smear campaign.

Last thought: you have to wonder whether Rick Perry of Texas is taking a second look. Right now Pawlenty’s in an excellent position to clean up in South Carolina, but Perry could win that state’s primary.

Moe Lane (crosspost)

 

Continue reading Tim Pawlenty will officially be running for President tomorrow.