At Values Voter Summit, Pawlenty Thumps Obama, Not The Bible

MN Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R), who made his debut appearance at the Family Research Council's annual Values Voter Summit of social conservatives 9/18 p.m., chose to present himself as an "anti-Obama warrior" rather than a "Christian warrior."

The lame-duck gov. and RGA vice-chair -- who is working to step up his nat'l profile ahead of a potential WH '12 bid -- drew standing ovations 9/18 p.m. for his swipes at the Obama admin. and nat'l Dems. He slammed Obama on missile defense, spending and health care, calling the Dem health care plan an "absolute financial monstrosity" that will cost Americans $2T+.

"Stop spending the country into bankruptcy," he said in his remarks to the gathering of 1.8K conservatives. "Stop taxing us into oblivion. And the next time you address a group of young people, maybe you should apologize for the crushing debt you're putting on their shoulders."

Pawlenty proved that he could play hardball with members of his own party, too. "We need to make sure that we are focused on wise values, not just wisecracks," Pawlenty said, in a not-so-subtle shot at ex-AR Gov. Mike Huckabee's penchant for one-liners, followed by what appeared to be a quick jab at ex-MA Gov. Mitt Romney: "We also need to know what our values are."

Strategically, Pawlenty faced two challenges: ratchet up his role as a leading GOP critic of the admin. while also growing his street cred among religious and social conservatives. Noticeably absent from Pawlenty's remarks was any attempt to weave in parts of his own personal religious experience -- a different approach from that of previous WH hopefuls.

At the group's '07 meeting, Sen. John McCain (R) -- no darling of the religious right -- wowed the crowd with a tale of his time as a POW in Vietnam. McCain told of how, in the midst of torture and despair, he was buoyed by a merciful guard who conveyed his shared Christian faith by silently drawing a cross in the dirt. Ex-NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), who faced skepticism as the GOP's socially liberal (and matrimonially challenged) front-runner in fall '07, talked up the fact that he attended all Catholic schools before entering NYU Law School.

"I studied religion and theology for 16 years and several times almost entered the seminary," Giuliani told the crowd, before quipping, "I know that's hard to believe."

Even Romney -- who perhaps had the steepest hill to climb due to reservations about his Mormon faith and his past views on abortion -made a concerted effort to win over the Values Voters in '07 by emphasizing his family and his shared Christian values his speech.

In his 9/18 speech, Pawlenty checked off all the boxes on social and religious issues, even drawing the hushed participation of the crowd as he quoted from the same Bible passage read by Ronald Reagan at his '81 inauguration.

But he took an understated approach to his personal faith -- which, given the MN GOPer's evangelical background, is a statement in itself. Pawlenty has strong ties to the 30M-member Nat'l Assoc. of Evangelicals, whose pres., Leith Anderson, is pastor of Pawlenty's MN church.

Asked about Pawlenty at this p.m.'s presser, Family Research Council Pres. Tony Perkins said he thought the gov. gave a "very good speech" and "could be a potentially intriguing candidate" due to his ability to reach out to moderates and liberals.

Perkins, on Pawlenty: "He is a conservative that has a very core set of beliefs that connect with value voters, but he's in a moderate-to-liberal state, which shows that those values are not a hindrance for candidates like him to get elected."

"He followed Jesse Ventura," Perkins added. "Try to figure that one out."

Among convo attendees those who listened to Pawlenty's speech 9/18 p.m., many gave the gov. positive reviews but had a hard time distinguishing him from other WH '12 hopefuls.

"It's the first time I really heard a lengthy speech given by him," Lynn Channing, a 54-year-old chemist from Annapolis, MD, said of Pawlenty. Asked to choose between him and Huckabee for WH '12, both she and her husband deferred.

"I couldn't make that call yet," Channing said.

(FELICIA SONMEZ)