Pawlenty: Iowa crucial to possible presidential bid
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says his current low poll numbers in Iowa don't necessarily mean he'll do poorly in the Iowa caucuses.
Pawlenty appeared on Fox News Sunday this morning. He reiterated his intent to announce whether he'll run for president within the next few months. And Pawlenty said if he runs, he must win or do well in Iowa.
"My name ID outside of Minnesota is not very high. I think it was 15 percent about a year ago amongst Republicans and not particularly high outside of northern Iowa," he said. "So if you look back at the history of these races looking at these polls early on, even for neighboring or closely related people geographically to Iowa, they're not a good predictor of how the result is."
Pawlenty appeared on the show to promote his new book, "Courage to Stand."
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He also urged fellow Republicans to reject calls to raise the country's debt limit.
"They should not raise the debt ceiling," Pawlenty said. "I believe they should pass legislation, allow them to sequence the spending as the revenues come in to make sure they don't default, and then have the debate about what other spending can be reduced.
Many Democrats contend that vital government functions will be endangered if the debt limit isn't raised.
When asked about the increase in Minnesota's debt during Pawlenty's administration, Pawlenty said many states have been forced to increase their debt over the past few years.