Tim Pawlenty's 2012 'action movie' video

Critics say that former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty&#039;s patriotic video seems to position him as a presidential candidate wannabe.

(Image credit: YouTube)

last updated 8 January 2015

The video: Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a likely 2012 Republican candidate for president, has released a video ostensibly to promote his new book, Courage to Stand. (Watch below.) But given the location (New Hampshire) and the featured event (the Merrimack County GOP reception), the video is being treated as "proof" that Pawlenty is auditioning for commander-in-chief. Either that "or he's starring in a new blockbuster action film," says Robin Marty in Care2. "Based on his new commercial, it's sort of hard to decide."

The reaction: Pawlenty "got pigeonholed early on as the 'bland' candidate," says Seth Millstein in Short Form Blog. While I'm not sure that making "an ad for his book that looks like a Michael Bay trailer" is the best way to "shake that label," but you can see what he's thinking. "I take the point," says Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo, but "precisely because Pawlenty seems like such a soft soap, this sort of 'man of destiny' stuff just comes off a little farcical." Maybe Rudy Giuliani could pull it off, because he's probably actually "thought about how he'd respond to an invasion of space aliens." View the clip for yourself: