Source:C-SPAN– Governor Tim Pawlenty (Republican, Minnesota) announcing his 2012 presidential campaign.

“Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty held a town hall event at the Iowa Historical Building. He announced earlier in the day that he was running as a Republican candidate in the 2012 presidential election. See the complete program here:C-SPAN.”

From C-SPAN

On paper I believe Tim Pawlenty looks like a solid presidential candidate in the GOP primaries. He’s a former two-term Governor of a good, sized State in Minnesota, where he was reelected and had a solid record.

Tim Pawlenty has legislative experience in the Minnesota House where he was the Republican Leader. He has solid public as well as private sector experience. Almost thirty years of both. He has executive, legislative, public, and private sector experience, including being and elected and reelected GOV of a major Democratic state.

Pawlenty is young at 50 for a presidential candidate, who could serve two terms as President, or serve two terms as Vice President and run for President. He has a good family, he’s a winner on paper, that should’ve been the GOP vice presidential nominee back in 2008, which could’ve spared America from ever being introduced to Sarah Palin. Which could’ve been his public service to America alone. He’s definitely a Conservative but not too conservative to serve eight years as GOV of a major Democratic state like Minnesota.

The minus’s of Governor Pawlenty are that he’s about as dull as a brand new pencil. He can give good speeches and interviews on substance, but put the interviewer and audience to sleep. Even if he were giving a speech at an insomniac convention. (The best and perhaps only sleep of their lives)

America is at the stage politically that we want our politicians, especially our presidential candidates to be exciting, to have celebrity appeal, to be cool. (Oh, I’m sorry, awesome!) One of the major reasons why Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. Which will hurt Tim Pawlenty in the general election, if he were to win the GOP nomination, if he doesn’t overcome that.

Also Governor Pawlenty has a lot of support from Christian-Right faction of the Republican Party. Which will play great in the GOP primaries, but of course will hurt him in the general election where he’ll need to win Independent voters, who tend to be liberal on social issues. So even though economic Libertarians and perhaps foreign policy Conservatives will like Tim Pawlenty, the question would be can he seem mainstream enough on social issues to keep the Republican Base and pick up enough Independents to win the election.

In this weak field of Republican presidential candidates for 2012, especially with Mitch Daniels not running, Tim Pawlenty is one of their strongest candidates and has as strong of a chance of winning the GOP nomination as anyone, if not better.