Romney Campaign Press Release - Tim Pawlenty: "Romney is Electable"

"Romney Is Electable" By Tim Pawlenty Politico September 21, 2011 http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0911/64047.html

What do Republicans want in a presidential candidate in 2012? Certainly, someone who passionately believes in our conservative values.

But considering what's at stake — the possibility of four more years of President Barack Obama's ruinously wrongheaded ideas — electability is a key factor. We have to win.

This is a topic I know something about. It's one reason I endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for president.

I served two terms as a Republican governor of a blue state. The last time Minnesota voted for a Republican candidate for president was 1972. It has the dubious distinction of the nation's longest streak of voting for the Democratic presidential candidate.

But Republicans can be elected statewide in Minnesota. I was. The reason is fairly straightforward.

Practical, common-sense conservative ideas to increase jobs and reduce government burdens improve people's lives. Voters, whether Republican, Democrat or independent, understand this. As governor, I found innovative ways to balance Minnesota's budget, cut spending, reform health care and bolster education — all without raising taxes.

I also did my best to lead with a hopeful and positive message and leadership style.

Mitt has done the same. A conservative businessman, he won the support of independent voters — and even some Democrats — to win election as governor of the blue state of Massachusetts. That is no small accomplishment.

It reveals Romney's tremendous strength in bringing Americans together.

He also governed successfully. His state's economy was mired in recession when he took office. Expenditures exceeded revenue. Without raising taxes — he cut taxes on 19 occasions — he balanced the budget and led the effort to turn the state's economy around.

By the time he left office, Massachusetts had a $2 billion budget surplus — and was again gaining jobs.

While all the Republican candidates have their respective strengths, Romney is uniquely positioned to help the Republican Party return to the White House.

Though he had an outstanding tenure as governor, Romney's not a career politician. He's spent most of his adult life working in the private sector — launching new businesses and rescuing failing ones.

He has an extraordinary command of the economic challenges we face, gained from day-in, day-out experience working in the marketplace. If ever America needed a leader who knows his way around the business world, it is now. Unemployment is more than 9 percent, and the economy is poised for a second recession.

We should not underestimate the challenge Republicans face in the coming general election. Obama's poll numbers may be low, but he possesses the enormous advantage of incumbency.

He can use the presidency's powerful bully pulpit to promote his message. He is viewed by many as friendly and likable — even if they consider his policies as off the mark. He's a skilled and fiercely determined campaigner.

Obama also has the support of Big Labor. It has a proven ability to get its rank-and-file members to the polls and raise large sums of campaign cash.

The president most likely will raise and spend nearly $1 billion on his reelection effort.

We should not give Obama a major additional advantage by nominating a vulnerable candidate. That would be a historic missed opportunity for the conservative movement — and the cause to restore America.

Social Security, for example, provides a vital safety net for millions of Americans. While Romney has long seen that Social Security has severe, long-term financial problems, he favors saving and protecting the program by fixing those problems.

He has not denounced the program — as some have done — and called it unconstitutional. He has not proposed that Social Security be turned over to state governments. Those are untenable positions and would cost Republicans dearly in the election.

Romney would be an outstanding president. He's smart, principled, conservative and experienced. But for conservatives to lead America to a brighter future — it's mission critical that our candidate win the election.

Romney can. And when he does — America's future will be immeasurably better as a result.