Politics

Pawlenty confident he can gain in polls

Alexis Levinson Political Reporter
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Tim Pawlenty acknowledged Friday morning that he needs to improve his lackluster performance in the polls, but expressed confidence that he would do so.

“Well, the polls bounce around a little bit,” Pawlenty said, in response to the CNN moderator noting that he has struggled to get more than 3 percent in the latest Iowa polls. “The Des Moines Register poll, a credible poll in Iowa, had us in sixth or seventh place. We have to start showing progress and I’m confident we will when my message of cutting taxes, doing health care reform, public employee pension and compensation reform when my record of results gets out.”

“The point is I’m actually the one person in the race who’s actually done all of these things,” Pawlenty said, falling back on his slogan of ‘results not rhetoric.’ “And there will be other candidates; one of the strengths I bring to it, I just don’t talk about these things: I did them.”

“The rest of the field can’t say the same thing,” he said later Friday morning on CNBC.