Attention Sam's Club shoppers: Pawlenty wants you. With Republicans engaged in a national debate over the future of the party, the former governor of Minnesota argues the GOP can do a better job addressing the problems facing working people. His 2012 candidacy for the presidency, announced in Iowa in May 201, is a test of that message.
In 2001, Pawlenty introduced a phrase into the political lexicon when he told a group of state Republicans, "We need to be the party of Sam's Club, not just the country club." The term "Sam's Club Republican" has been associated with him ever since.
In February 2009, in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference, Pawlenty said that many socially conservative, gun-owning voters who are now voting for Democrats could become a part of the key part of the Republican constituency.
"When people go to Sam's Club or Wal Mart, or Costco, what are they doing?" he asked rhetorically. "They're trying to find value, right?" He said that Republicans could win the argument with Democrats by emphasizing, as an alternative to bigger government, "individual empowerment, consumer choice, directing resources to individuals and letting them be in control of their lives."
Pawlenty was one of the earliest endorsers of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during the 2008 presidential election, having declared his support for the Arizona senator way back in November 2006, before McCain had formally announced his candidacy. Pawlenty became the first co-chair of McCain's exploratory committee, campaigned heavily for him, and stuck with the candidate even when McCain's prospects of winning the GOP nomination dimmed in the summer of 2007. He was on the short list to become McCain's 2008 vice presidential running mate.
In June 2009, Pawlenty announced he would not seek a third term as Minnesota governor, prompting further speculation that he was eyeing a possible 2012 presidential run.He traveled the country, especially to key presidential states Iowa and New Hampshire.
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