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TAMPA, Florida -- Former presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said Monday that the issue of retiring his campaign debt was not a factor in his decision to endorse former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and that his past concerns Romney's health care legislation have been put to rest.
Asked about reports that Romney had promised to help Pawlenty erase his campaign debt, the former Minnesota governor said that he did not consider the lingering financial issues of his campaign when he decided to endorse.
"That wasn't a factor in my endorsement and obviously if he's willing to help with that, we'd love to have his help," he said. "But I anticipate I'll probably end up raising more money for him than he would in terms of anything he might do to help with our campaign debt."
Pawlenty, who previously dubbed Romney the president's "co-conspirator" on Obama's heath care bill, said that Romney convinced him of his promise to repeal the federal health care legislation.
"He's assured me as he's repeatedly assured the nation that one of the most important priorities he'll have as president is to repeal Obamacare," the former Minnesota governor told NBC News in an interview in Tampa, FL.
"What he has said and what I agree with in his perspective is states should be allowed to try things and he thought health care reform the way they did it in Massachusetts was right for Massachusetts," he added. "But most importantly Mitt and I agree it's not right for the rest of the country."
One thing that has changed since Pawlenty's exit from the 2012 field is the skyrocketing poll numbers of Gov. Rick Perry, who has recently shot past Romney in national surveys. But Pawlenty today took no direct shots at Perry, focusing exclusively on Romney's economic record.
He said that Romney presented a more "thoughtful and measured" approach to fixing Social Security but did not use the harsher language Romney is widely expected to employ in tonight's CNN/ Tea Party Express debate.
When Pawlenty dropped out of the race after the Ames straw poll last month, he told ABC News that he did not intend to back another contender "anytime soon." But on Monday he said that he "accelerated" that timeline in order to make a big splash with his nod, deciding that "doing it earlier would have more impact on the race and would be more meaningful towards trying to get Mitt elected president."
But some of that impact could be muted by another big name in Republican politics - Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana -- who this afternoon endorsed Perry.
"I wasn't aware of that," Pawlenty said when NBC asked him about Jindal's endorsement of Perry. "I know Bobby and certainly respect his time as governor of Louisiana. But all the governors are going to be lining up or most of them will for endorsements in the coming weeks and months and I'm proud to be standing with Gov. Romney."
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But we hold these truths to be self-evident; that ALL men are created equal....
so why is HCR "right for Massachusetts," but "it's not right for the rest of the country."? Mass citizens are under a different standard than the rest of the nation?
PUHLEEZE! TAKE THAT DOUBLE STANDARD, FLIP-FLOP, ASSININE, ILLOGICAL SPIN TO GROVER NORQUIST OR SOME OTHER IDIOT WHO MAY GO FOR IT.
American voters do NOT want to hear, and will NOT support such non-sense. Go back to the farm and work for a living like regular folks.
I agree why is Massachusetts, such an anomaly?
It's simple, because over 95% of Mass. love their health care Romney helped craft. The 5% of the residents that don't like can easily move to another state. If it's a federally plan, where are you going to move to? ..Mexico?
Look into my eyes,
What do you see?
Cult of Personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Mussolini, and Kennedy
I'm the Cult of Personality
Neon lights, Nobel Prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
I tell you: one and one make three
Like Joseph Stalin & Gandhi
I'm the Cult of Personality
"ask not: what your country can do for you..."
(Living Color)
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Apparently, the huge debt Pawlenty left in MN is not a factor for him either. The continued hypocrisy from those on the right about "getting our financial house in order" should be a concern for all of us, when they cannot manage their own affairs, or those of the states they were supposed to lead.
"newday" - GWB set the tone, don't pay for anything - but its okay to cut SS and medicare. They can run up the tab but have a fit when you suggest they raise revenues to do so. The two wars alone cost $3T and counting, but they never talk about cutting defense. Pawlenty performed the same sham budgeting acts as all the other republican governors, you just don't hear about it until they are out of office.
Can't disagree with you there, Mav, but we are feeling what Pawlenty did to the state. Our rural schools are having to go to four day weeks, because they can't afford to transport students in these large rural districts. Property taxes have all gone up, it is a mess here.
Do you think Pawlenty loses any sleep over all those people killed when the bridge he neglected went down? I don't think he has.
Some how some way that bridge was Obama's fault. All bridges in MN were fine until Obama got elected.
Ain't that the truth. Look what Rick Perry did with the stimulus money:
Texas Used Stimulus to Cover 97% of Its Deficit
By Derek Thompson
Jan 24 2011, 12:12 PM ET
Even as he railed against the Recovery Act, Texas Gov. Rick Perry used the government's stimulus plan to cover 97 percent of the state's budget deficit in 2009:
Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.
"Stimulus was very helpful in getting them through the last few years," said Brian Sigritz, director of state fiscal studies for the National Association of State Budget Officers, said of Texas.
In FY 2012, Texas' deficit is projected to come in at $12 billion, more than 30 percent of its budget -- the third highest rate in the country. But the states, which are collectively facing a $120 billion shortfall next year, are unlikely to see any more stimulus, in large part due to the efforts of conservatives like Gov. Perry, who have slammed the Recovery Act as a wasteful and ineffective government bailout. You make your own bed, etc.
And then we hear the RNC rhetoric that the stimulus was a pork-barrel failure by President Obama; weak platform plank when the facts show Perry and those like him are the very ones who abused and misused (or stole) the stimulus funds.
Don't forget in November 2012!