August 8th, 2012

Pawlenty: I don’t want to say it’s no big deal, but it’s a little bit of déjà vu…

CNN chief national correspondent John King today kicked off “The Contenders” series, beginning with his interview with former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty in the key battleground state of Ohio. King traveled yesterday to Ohio to speak with Gov. Pawlenty; a highlight is after the jump.

King’s interviews with Ohio Sen. Rob Portman and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan will air on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, 4 pm – 7pm ET, on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The 2012 campaign is the seventh presidential election that King has covered. In 2008, King was the first to report on Pres. Barack Obama’s selection of then-Sen. Joe Biden as his running mate. Earlier in his career, King broke the news of Michael Dukakis’ selection of Lloyd Bentsen in 1988 and Clinton’s selection of Al Gore in 1992.

**PLEASE CREDIT ALL USAGE TO CNN’s JOHN KING**

TRANSCRIPT
THIS IS A RUSH FDCH TRANSCRIPT. IT MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN:  The top contenders to be Mitt Romney’s running mate are campaigning very hard for the job as he gets closer to announcing his pick.  The former Minnesota governor, Tim Pawlenty, has been a loyal surrogate for his former Republican primary opponent.  He is on the campaign trail for Romney in Michigan today.

Our chief national correspondent, John King, is joining us now with a profile of Tim Pawlenty.

You actually had a chance, John, to catch up with him in Ohio?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT:  I sure did, Wolf.  I was out on the road in Ohio, I saw Governor Pawlenty.  We hear Governor Romney say all the time that President Obama doesn’t keep his promises, he ran on lofty promises, hasn’t kept them as president.

Well, Tim Pawlenty’s a little different.  He put it this way in an Irish pub. He says the president of the United States, Wolf, is all foam and no beer.

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