No more Obamneycare.
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who left the race for the Republican presidential nomination last month, has endorsed Mitt Romney and joined his campaign as a national co-chair.
On Fox and Friends this morning, where Pawlenty made the announcement, he defended Romney’s record on health care reform (which he had unsuccessfully attacked on the campaign trail) and joined in the dogpile on Rick Perry over his rhetoric about Social Security.
A key quote, gathered this morning by Politico:
“Gov. Romney wants to fix Social Security. He doesn’t want to abolish it or end it,” Pawlenty said. “Gov. Perry has said in the past that he thought it was ‘failed.'”
In a letter sent to Romney supporters Monday morning, Pawlenty praised Romney’s economic plan.
“By pressing for fundamental change in the way that Washington taxes and spends, issues regulations, uses energy, interacts with our major trading partners, and deals with our labor force, he fully envisions a way to place America back on the path toward rapid economic growth and full employment,” Pawlenty wrote.
The letter doesn’t mention the phrase “health care,” though Pawlenty told Fox that he had discussed the issue with Romney and determined Romney is “100% dedicated and committed to repealing Obamacare.”
Pawlenty told the Fox team that he’s not angling for a VP slot on the Romney ticket. “That won’t be part of the path for me,” he said.
Here’s video of Pawlenty’s appearance on Fox and Friends, clipped and posted by the Romney campaign:
