WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty announced on Sunday that he is seeking the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, adding some weight to a field of candidates seen as struggling to defeat President Barack Obama.
"Tomorrow my first campaign stop will be in Iowa and that’s where I’m going to begin a campaign that tells the American people the truth," Pawlenty said in the video on his website. "I’m Tim Pawlenty and I’m running for president of the United States."
Pawlenty, 50, is respected by political insiders and could emerge as one of his party’s strongest candidates, although he has been near the bottom of the pack of potential Republican challengers in public opinion polls.
Pawlenty, known as "T-Paw" to his supporters, was a popular two-term governor in a Democratic-leaning state, giving him credibility as a Republican who can attract vital support from independent voters.
The son of a truck driver who grew up near stockyards and a meat-packing plant, Pawlenty was 16 when his mother died of cancer and his father lost his job. Pawlenty went on to work his way through college and law school at the University of Minnesota.
Despite the struggles of his early life, the soft-spoken Pawlenty is seen by some Republicans as lacking the toughness needed to take on an incumbent president with strong campaign finances like Obama.
The president leads potential Republican candidates in most polls but he could slip if unemployment numbers do not improve quickly enough.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been leading some early polls for the Republican nomination. Newt Gingrich, a former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives who entered the race two weeks ago, has had a rocky start having drawn the ire of fellow conservatives by criticizing a Republican plan to overhaul the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly.
Prominent Republicans such as Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour have decided not to join the race.
Two potential candidates with ties to the conservative tea party movement, U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann and 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, have not announced their plans.
