MASON CITY, Iowa -- In his first of five campaign stops throughout Iowa today, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he isn't going to change Washington as president.

Instead, he said, "I'm going to defeat it."

Pawlenty spoke to a group of about 40 gathered here at the Clarion Inn. While not directly addressing todays economis numbers, he hit the president for his poor economic record .

"Barack Obama's hope and change has become a hope we don't lose our house or have to change our address," he said.

Earlier today, First Read described the political stakes in next week's Ames Straw Poll, especially for GOP presidential hopefuls Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty.

Now here's a look at the efforts the various campaigns are undertaking to boost their performance at the straw poll, which takes place nine days from now on Aug. 13.

Note: Participants in the straw poll must purchase a $30 ticket, and Iowans of voting age by Nov. 2012 are eligible. In the past, thousands have participated in the contest -- which doesn't determine who'll win the Iowa caucuses or the GOP nomination, but which serves as a test of organization and as a way to winnow the field. And an additional note: Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney aren’t making a play to win the straw poll.

BACHMANN: For the day of the poll, the Bachmann camp has arranged for an air-conditioned tent, country music performers, funnel cakes, and a petting zoo. "You can stay as little or as long as you want to stay, or you can vote and leave," Bachmann said by telephone to supporters in Newton, IA on Monday. "We need to come together on Aug. 13, and make the down payment on taking our country back, and making Barack Obama a one-term president."

Also, this Saturday, Bachmann will sign the Strong America Now debt-reduction pledge.  Signing it means that her supporters will be able to ride buses provided by the Texas-based issue group (as long as they also sign the pledge, too) -- an advantage the Bachmann campaign acknowledges. "We came into Iowa months later than others," Bachmann campaign spokesperson Alice Stewart says.  "Any help we can get, we can use it." For more on Strong America Now, click here.

CAIN: He has introduced himself to voters during his 24 visits to Iowa since declaring his presidential bid, but he’ll give Iowans another chance to see him as he canvasses the state during his 15-stop “Common Sense Solutions bus tour. He's also in Iowa today, but not on the bus yet, making stops in Des Moines, Oskaloosa, and Clinton.

On straw poll day, the campaign will be serving pizza from Godfather's, the chain which Cain formerly ran.

PAWLENTY: A staple of a Pawlenty campaign visit has been the handful of interns who approach Iowans after each event -- to ask if they are attending the straw poll, and if they need a ride or a free ticket. The flyer they hand out promises a "day full of fun and excitement," with live music and food from one of the former Minnesota governor's favorites -- Dairy Queen. The Pawlenty campaign also has a website, iowastrawpoll2011.com, where Iowans can register for a lift or a free ticket.

PAUL: The  campaign is asking supporters who live in Iowa -- or attend school there -- to go to Ames and vote for Paul in the straw poll. Supporters can sign up for a $10 package that includes: a ticket to the straw poll; food and drinks; entertainment at the Paul tent; bus transportation to and from the event.

Supporters who recruit five people to attend the straw poll are considered honorary “Straw Poll Supporters” and will receive a signed copy of Ron Paul’s most recent book, “Liberty Defined.” Those who recruit 10 people will be honorary members of Ron Paul’s “Iowa Leadership Circle” -- and get (in addition to the signed book) an autographed copy of the U.S. Constitution, signed by Ron Paul AND his son, Sen. Rand Paul. The grand prize for those who recruit at least 25 people and are a top five recruit? An exclusive meet-and-greet with Ron Paul, a personal photo-op with the congressman, a VIP front row seat at the Aug. 11 debate -- as well as that autographed book and copy of the U.S. Constitution.

SANTORUM: He has been offering free straw poll tickets and bus transportation to Ames. At every stop Santorum has had, he hands out a sheet of paper that invites "you, your family, and your friends to be his personal guests." And there's this: Santorum also pledges to provide anyone who signs up with free samples of jam that he and his family made from Pennsylvania.

A final note: Per one of the NBC's Iowa-based embeds, you can't turn on a radio station or local TV station without hearing ads for the Iowa State Fair, which also is taking place in Ames. But there really has not been that much promotion about the straw poll itself. 

At a Michele Bachmann rally in Fort Dodge, IA, last Sunday, a volunteer from Strong America Now -- a nonprofit group pushing to eliminate the federal debt -- handed out flyers alerting the crowd to a debt-reduction pledge the group is asking GOP presidential candidates to sign.

But the address on the back of the flyers didn’t match that of the Texas-based advocacy group. Instead, it listed the Brooklyn, IA, PO Box of a political firm called Campaign Headquarters – whose president, Nicole Schlinger, is an adviser to Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign.

Strong America Now is looking to play a large role in the Ames Straw Poll on Aug. 13 by busing voters to the event and buying their tickets. Schlinger’s connection with the issue group -- and Pawlenty --  is drawing criticism from Bachmann’s campaign, which believes the connections are unethical.

Schlinger, whose company oversees Strong America Now’s grassroots effort in Iowa, is among a small group of Pawlenty advisers with links to outside issue groups. Two other Pawlenty campaign advisers -- Chuck Larson Jr. and Karen Slifka -- work as P.R. consultants with the Iowa Energy Forum, an energy-independence group sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute. The group is enticing Iowa voters to attend straw poll with an “air-conditioned igloo” and a chance to win an iPad 2.

A fourth Pawlenty adviser, Ed Failor Jr., also works with the Iowa Energy Forum, according to an article Tuesday in the Iowa Republican.

These outside groups’ links to the Pawlenty campaign, first reported by the Des Moines Register, are raising the question of how close candidates and issue groups should be. And they’ve become the focal point for a brewing fight between the Pawlenty and Bachmann campaigns.

The charge from Team Bachmann: These outside groups are aiding Pawlenty in next week’s Ames Straw Poll.

In an interview with the Des Moines Register, Michele Bachmann’s Iowa campaign chair, Kent Sorenson, accused Pawlenty of “trying to hijack nonprofit organization for his own political gain.”

Sorenson, an Iowa state senator, added that Pawlenty had “sunk to desperate and unethical attempts to win the Ames Straw Poll.”

In response to a question about the connection between the Pawlenty campaign and these outside groups, Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant told NBC News “There is none. That would be illegal.”

Conant added, “'We have consultants and voluntary advisers who have multiple clients, which is not unusual.”

Instead, Conant says, the real story is an example of political posturing by a rival campaign. “I think the Bachmann campaign's accusations are malicious, and so much of what they say is made up," he said.

In a statement to NBC News, Joe Shannahan, spokesman for Larson and Slifka’s firm LS2Group, said: “Any suggestion that our firm or IEF [Iowa Energy Forum] coordinates with any candidate is absolutely false. LS2group is familiar with and fully compliant with FEC rules.”

Schlinger could not be reached for comment by NBC. But she told the Des Moines Register in an e-mail, “We know what the rules are in regard to coordination, and operate within them.”

Since the news surfaced about Schlinger’s ties to the Pawlenty campaign, her firm, Campaign Headquarters, has been pulled from its responsibility coordinating Strong America Now's activities for the Ames Straw Poll. Campaign Headquarters, however, will continue to do other work for Strong America Now, such as managing field staff and phone calls in Iowa.

Strong America Now promises a plan to reduce 25% of waste across the federal government. Its pledge has been signed by six candidates, including Pawlenty. Among the major figures in the Republican field who have not signed the pledge: Bachmann, Mitt Romney, and Jon Huntsman.

*** UPDATE *** Strong America Now says that Campaign Headquarters has been pulled from a majority of its responsibilities coordinating the group's straw poll efforts. But Campaign Headquarters will continue to do other work for Strong America Now, such as managing field staff and phone calls in Iowa.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, senior political adviser to Tim Pawlenty’s presidential campaign, told NBC News yesterday that she believes the former Minnesota governor is in a better position to do well in the Ames straw poll than her father, Mike Huckabee, was at this point in 2007. 

“He [Huckabee] had a much smaller organization,” she said. “It was a lot -- at this point -- less known. I would say that Gov. Pawlenty is probably somewhat ahead of where my dad was at this point in the straw poll.”

Huckabee, the affable former Arkansas governor who was also a Baptist pastor, finished second in Ames in 2007, but went on to win the caucuses. He had strong support from the religious voters, who campaigned hard for him.

For some perspective, Pawlenty is at 6% in the latest Des Moines Register poll out June 26, putting him in sixth place -- and gets only 2% from Republicans in the latest Gallup poll.

In the July 2007 NBC News-Wall Street Journal poll, Huckabee received just 1% of support from Republican voters, and in May 2007, he was at 4% in Des Moines Register poll.

On Ames expectations
SANDERS: “In the straw poll, I think he just needs to show progress from where he’s been and show that there’s some forward movement. I think he’ll do that. As far as the caucus goes, it’s a long way from now, but I think he needs to do extremely well in the caucus. You know, it’s one of those things that, it may change between now and then, depending on the environment. … We were polling six or seven [in the] last Des Moines Register poll, which is probably one of the bigger, more credible polls in the state -- so ahead of that. Anything better than 6 is progress.”

On a possible run by Texas Gov. Rick Perry
SANDERS: “I certainly think that he could have an impact, but so much of that, you know, he hasn’t been through this process. We haven’t seen him really be vetted; we haven’t seen him go through the day-to-day of presidential campaign rigors. So I think a lot of that’s yet to be determined, so we’re staying focused on our campaign. There have been a lot of people who said they were going to get in but didn’t, and so I think the most important thing for us is to stay focused on our campaign and our message. And that’s not going to change based on who gets in the race.”

Working for Pawlenty vs. working for her dad
SANDERS: “The environment is very different now than it was four years ago. You’ve got a much more aggressive electorate than you did four years ago. But at the same time there are a lot of similarities in the sense that Iowans take their role extremely serious; they’re very responsible voters. They ask hard questions and actually show up and ask questions. They don’t just come because they’re supporting, they come because they want to know who you are. They want to look you in the eye, and they want to be able to ask you something that’s important to them, and then see how you respond to it. I think Iowa is a great starting place for the presidential election for that reason alone. You know, most people expect not to just know who each candidate is, but they want to meet them, look them in the eye like once or twice and maybe even have you in their home at some point. You know, so it’s a very retail politics oriented, but I think it’s a good judge of, you know, how a person really is and the authenticity of them. And I think a person like Gov. Pawlenty will do extremely well here.” 

On Pawlenty Iowa strategy
SANDERS: “We’ll continue [the] bus tour right up until the straw poll. Our main thing is just getting the governor’s message out and letting him get in front of as many Iowans as possible because the more people that meet him, the more people the love him. And the more people coalesce around him are starting to get energized by what he’s saying and what he’s doing and what he’s done in the past. And so our goal is, he’s going to be the best salesman of himself that anyone could be, so we want to get him in front of as man Iowans as possible, so that we do well in the straw poll, which I think we will.”

On rest of GOP field
Sanders said she believes there are Republican candidates in the race without a record of accomplishment, but declined to give specifics.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA –- During his two-week tour of Iowa, Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty made it a point to stick around and talk to voters after his speeches and town halls.

While the former Minnesota governor stayed to ask voters about the issues that are most important to them, a handful of Pawlenty campaign interns stuck around to ask Iowa voters a different question: Are you going to the Ames straw poll on Aug. 13?

And: Do you need a free ticket or a ride?

Over the past two weeks, Pawlenty has covered about 1,700 miles of Iowa, with his campaign staff estimating to have reached 1,600 voters. In each stop, he has urged voters to support him in Ames, which has traditionally been the summer indicator of which candidates will do well in the Iowa caucuses.

But despite the ground effort that is being put into getting people to next month’s straw poll, his campaign isn't specific about what results they want to see next month.

The goal for Ames is to “show big movement,” Pawlenty campaign manager Nick Ayers told NBC News after a meet and greet here this morning.

“Moving one place is not real movement,” Ayers added. “Moving three to four places is real movement.”

National polls show Pawlenty hovering towards the bottom of the pack of Republicans seeking the presidential nomination. The latest Gallup poll shows him garnering just 2% support from Republicans.

On the stump, Pawlenty has been touting his executive record and national electability against that of his GOP competitors –- including some not-so-subtle jabs at Minnesota rival Michele Bachmann.

In Carroll yesterday, Pawlenty told voters, “I think an important question for you as you consider who to vote for in the Ames straw poll and the caucuses or beyond is: Has this person actually done any of it? Because after Barack Obama, I’m sick and tired of listening to people flap their jaw.”

Regardless of what the polls show (Gallup has Bachmann with 11% support from Republicans), the Pawlenty campaign argues the miles they covered in Iowa will pay off –- both at Ames and beyond.

“Our ultimate goal here in Iowa is to win the caucus,” Ayers said.

CHEROKEE, IOWA -- Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty spent his day here asking GOP voters to consider electability in the run-up to next month's Ames straw poll and next year's Iowa caucuses.

"It's not much of a consolation prize for Iowa to have somebody who's right for that moment, who's exciting for the day but really can't be the nominee of the party, really can't beat Barack Obama," he said in Carroll.

In four campaign stops throughout the state today, the former Minnesota governor split his time between criticizing President Obama and highlighting the inexperience of his competitors in the GOP field.

"Any bobble head can stand up here and say the right words as a Republican candidate... The question is have you done it," he said in Jefferson.

For most of today, Pawlenty shied away from naming names. He mentioned fellow Minnesotan and presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann and just once, saying: "What I've tried to say generically is, whether it's Congresswoman Bachmann or anyone else, and there's been a little back-and-forth with her and me, is that I think it's just basic common sense...to put somebody in the office who's had executive experience."

Tim Pawlenty -- not catching fire yet in the polls or among GOP donors -- is making a major push in advance of next month's Ames Straw Poll.

And the campaign has released a video to Iowa voters stressing Pawlenty's faith. But the star of the video is Pawlenty's wife, Mary, an evangelical Christian who got Pawlenty -- then a Catholic -- to join her church.

"My parents were the ones who introduced me to the importance of having God in your life and being connected to God through faith and Jesus Christ," she says in the video.

The GOP presidential candidate adds, "Hope is always with us. And our hope is not in these earthly things, but in Jesus Christ." The former Minnesota goes on to say, "We were founded as a nation under God."

As it turns out, Sarah Huckabee -- Mike Huckabee's daughter who's now working for the Pawlenty campaign -- pens the email introducing the video.

Four years ago I worked in Iowa for my dad, Governor Mike Huckabee, when he was running for President. At the time, he was low in the polls and didn’t have much money, but he won the Iowa Caucus because Iowans liked his executive experience, record of results governing a Democratic state, and conservative convictions. Today I’m back in Iowa working for Governor Pawlenty’s campaign because Governor Pawlenty has the same conservative convictions and executive experience I admire in my dad. 

[snip]

Governor Pawlenty's commitment to faith and family is not a product of coaching by campaign consultants. As a devoted husband to Mary and supportive father to Anna and Mara, Governor Pawlenty gets it. 

Strikingly, the Pawlenty campaign released this video at the same time as it announced it wouldn't be signing Iowa Family Leader's controversial marriage pledge. Says Pawlenty in a statement:

"I deeply respect, and share, Bob Vander Platts' commitment to promoting the sanctity of marriage, a culture of life, and the core principles of the Family Leader’s Marriage Vow Pledge. However, rather than sign onto the words chosen by others, I prefer to choose my own words, especially seeking to show compassion to those who are in broken families through no fault of their own.

"I respectfully decline to sign the pledge."

In a speech today to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty took a hawkish view on foreign policy, drawing contrasts with President Obama and some of his GOP rivals.

His primary target was Obama, whom he called "timid, slow, and too often without a clear understanding of our interests."

The former Minnesota governor also knocked the president on the subject of Israel. "It breaks my heart that President Obama treats Israel, our great friend, as a problem rather than as an ally,” Pawlenty said.

Both in his prepared remarks -- read on teleprompter -- and in the Q&A following,  Pawlenty tried to separate himself from fellow Republicans. "Parts of the Republican Party now seem to be trying to out-bid the Democrats in appealing to isolationist sentiments. This is no time for uncertain leadership in either party. The stakes are simply too high, and the opportunity is simply too great."

Pawlenty gave his speech at a time when GOP foreign-policy views seem to be splitting. While not mentioning any of his rivals by name, Pawlenty took a swipe at those have been hesitant about continuing the U.S. military role in Afghanistan. "What is wrong is for the Republican Party to shrink from the challenges of American leadership in the world," he said. "History repeatedly warns us that in the long run, weakness in foreign policy costs us and our children much more than we'll save in a budget line item."

"America already has one political party devoted to decline, retrenchment, and withdrawal," he said. "It does not need a second one."

“It is not wrong for Republicans to debate the timing of our military drawdown in Afghanistan,” Pawlenty also stated, adding: "though my belief is that Gen. Petreaus’ voice ought to carry the most weight on that question."

Almost 50 days until the Ames Straw Poll, Tim Pawlenty is about to go up with TV ads in Iowa -- the first presidential candidate to do that this cycle, First Read confirms. Politico first reported the news.

The TV ads -- at a $50,000 buy, running from June 23 to July 3 -- will appear on FOX News in the Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Omaha, Ottumwa, Rochester, and Sioux City media markets.

Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant tells NBC: "Gov. Pawlenty is well positioned to unite conservatives and do well in both Iowa and New Hampshire. The soon-to-be-unveiled TV ads will introduce the governor to Iowans about why he is the candidate with the strongest record and best results, not rhetoric."

In First Thoughts this morning, we wondered if Tim Pawlenty's decision to hit Mitt Romney on health care -- after refusing to do so at Monday's debate -- was a sign of panic or campaign disagreement.

A campaign official stresses to First Read, however, that any sign of disagreement isn't true. “The Pawlenty team is united and confident in our strategy to take the fight to Mitt Romney on health care," the official said.

The official went on to say that the campaign set up its challenge to Romney perfectly -- by playing up "ObamneyCare" on FOX the day before the debate, and by holding a health-care-related event hours before the debate.

But there was just one problem: Pawlenty didn't deliver in the debate.

"As he acknowledged, he missed," the official added. "And it's not going to happen again."

Reached for official comment, Pawlenty spokesman Alex Conant tells First Read, “Tim Pawlenty screwed up in the debate. Mitt Romney screwed up health care in Massachusetts."

In a speech in San Francisco today, Republican presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty addressed the nation's top health-insurer lobbying group, where he criticized President Obama's health-care law. 

Speaking at the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) conference -- for which he was reportedly paid by the health-insurer group -- Pawlenty said that the health care law is not financially sound.

“Within 15 years or less, the system will be financially bankrupt like most of the current entitlements are or will soon be."

He added that the law will be "one of the worst mistakes" and that the only way to fix it is to repeal the law.

"My approach is to say repeal the whole thing and start over. I think it is in philosophically, directionally, fundamentally flawed. The idea that the federal government is going to take into Washington, DC this chunk of our economy -- manage it, limit choices, limit options, create the oversight, regulate it, finance it, staff it -- I think will be 20 years from now one of the worst mistakes of the modern history of the country."

After receiving a considerable amount of criticism for NOT hitting Mitt Romney on health care at Monday's debate -- after telegraphing that he would the day before by saying "ObamneyCare" -- Tim Pawlenty has attacked Romney with this Tweet:

On seizing debate opportunity re: healthcare: Me 0, Mitt 1. On doing healthcare reform the right way as governor: Me 1, Mitt 0.

The Tweet comes after a Pawlenty spokeman told the New York Times that the campaign is taking a long view of the race. “We take the long view, which is the right view,” the spokesman told the paper. “Presidential campaigns are marathons. They are not won or lost in a night or a week or a month.”

*** UPDATE *** This isn't the first time that Pawlenty has issued an attack via Twitter. Last month, he said this about President Obama:

@BarackObama sorry to interrupt the European pub crawl, but what was your Medicare plan?