DES MOINES – Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty used his Iowa debut as a potential presidential candidate Saturday to excoriate President Obama and congressional Democrats for not doing more to address the still-wheezing economy.

“They should be focused like a laser on jobs, not acting like a manure-spreader in a wind storm,” Pawlenty told Iowa Republicans gathered in an exhibition hall at the state fairgrounds, criticizing Democrats for their efforts on healthcare and energy.

Noting that unemployment in October crested 10 percent, he mocked the Obama administration officials who earlier said that threshold would be breached only if Congress didn’t agree to the stimulus the White House called for, and received.

“As a senior aide to President Clinton once said: It’s the economy, stupid,” Pawlenty quipped, channeling the 1992 James Carville line. He proposed making some of the Bush-era tax cuts permanent and cutting the payroll tax and rates on small business and research and development to help bolster the economy.

Speaking for 30 minutes to a crowd of approximately 700 at a fundraising dinner for the Iowa GOP, the second-term governor touted the party’s victories in Tuesday’s gubernatorial races to argue that Republicans have begun to come back.

In the state whose first-in-the-nation caucuses have long made it a crucial stop for presidential hopefuls, Pawlenty took several shots at the Obama administration. Test-driving a new stump speech, he offered a reworking of the president’s signature call-and-response chant: “Are you fired up and ready to fight back?”

The polite Midwestern crowd, though, received Pawlenty with polite applause throughout his speech, saving their loudest ovation for toward the end of his remarks when he raised “the importance of thanking and acknowledging God.”

DNC spokesman Hari Sevugan, responding to Pawlenty’s speech, said that “It’s not a question of focusing on the 'economy stupid.' It's a question of not repeating the same stupid economic policies that got us into this mess to begin with.”

While Pawlenty exhorted the crowd to help re-take the governor’s mansion here and in other Midwestern states next year, the governor, who is not seeking re-election next year, also used much of his time before a crowd of likely 2012 caucus-goers to introduce himself. He described his blue-collar roots as the son of a truck driver from South St. Paul and touted his ability to win in an historically-liberal state.

Plainly hoping to offer himself up as regular guy, Pawlenty took the stage to Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son,” (even though potential 2012 rival Mitt Romney is in fact a “governor’s son”), recalled his deer-hunting expedition into northern Minnesota earlier in the day (where he said he pioneered a new hunting technique, “shoot and release”), decried the bailouts and made sure the audience knew that he was essentially from the neighborhood.

“Minnesota and Iowa have a lot in common,” he observed. “We’re a state that if you drive across the Minnesota border into northern Iowa, you can’t tell that you’re in a different state in a lot of ways.”

In another moment of heartland solidarity, he said: “Some people call us fly-over country.”

Going further than perhaps some in the Midwestern crowd are used to, though, the governor also noted that he was joined at the dinner by his “red-hot, smoking wife,” Mary. 

Pawlenty’s visit came at a time when some Hawkeye State political insiders have begun fretting about the state’s relevance heading into the 2012 caucuses. With Sen. John McCain having won the GOP nomination despite a 4th-place finish here, the concern is that some presidential candidates may be tempted to de-emphasize or altogether skip the state.

“I think it’s a mistake to skip the caucuses and the reason why I think it’s a mistake because here is really grassroots democracy,” said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) in a brief interview Saturday night before the dinner.

And if the appeal of up-close, retail campaigning isn’t enough to lure candidates back, Grassley noted the state’s track record of launching candidates to the White House.

“In one generation, Iowa has elected two presidents, one Carter and the other Obama,” he said. Both, thought, are Democrats.

Pawlenty avoided any mention of the cherished caucuses during his remarks, but after briefly addressing reporters following the dinner he stopped before getting into his car to say he hoped they continued to play a vital role in the nominating process.

“I think that’s a great demonstration of grassroots democracy that allows people to come forward in an open, transparent, grassroots way,” he said. “And so I think it has served Iowa and it has served the nation well.”

Earlier in the day, Pawlenty went even further to demonstrate his personal commitment to the caucuses, taking a series of steps that underlined his clear interest in running for president. Fresh from his hunting trip, and still clad in a blaze orange hat, he met with longtime Iowa GOP strategist Dave Roederer at a downtown hotel here. Roerder was the state campaign chairman for President Bush’s re-election in 2004 and McCain’s 2008 bid.

Later, Pawlenty was the guest of honor at a small fundraiser for the Iowa GOP held at the home of Doug Reichardt, a prominent local insurance executive and Republican donor.

And the governor had sought to sit down with Grassley in the afternoon but the senator had a scheduling conflict.

Though Pawlenty certainly didn’t light the room ablaze with his presence, he seemed to strike solid and familiar chords with the Republicans in the room.

“I think he is the profile of the kind of candidate who could be very powerful in 2012,” said Bill Schikel, a former state representative from Mason City who is on the GOP’s state central committee. “It’s a combination of his presentation. It’s what he says and how he says it.”

Though some in the audience said privately that Pawlenty’s remarks lacked a spark, most Iowans were either pleasantly inscrutable or laudatory.

Frank Severnio, a Republican from just outside of Des Moines who approached Pawlenty after the dinner to offer his support, was the most blunt: “He’s a fresh face. We’ve been there with Romney and Huckabee.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been quietly assembling the blueprint of a presidential campaign and will announce Thursday the support of a group of high-level political strategists and donors, complemented by a handful of top new media consultants, POLITICO has learned.

Pawlenty, under the radar of D.C.’s political community, has locked up some of the key operatives who engineered then-President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign — a significant feat for a little-known Midwestern politician.

The moves underscore, and will lend credence to, the emerging belief among many establishment Republicans that Pawlenty is becoming the sole viable alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican primary rival. The Minnesota governor has even gone so far as to contact some of Romney’s former supporters.

Pawlenty, who previously has had little political infrastructure, is now being advised by a trio of GOP consultants with presidential experience: Terry Nelson, Sara Taylor and Phil Musser.

And in formally opening his political action committee, Freedom First, Thursday, Pawlenty will also announce two co-chairmen, William Strong, a Morgan Stanley vice chairman, and former Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.), both of whom are heavyweight GOP figures, along with a list of prominent Minnesota donors.

In addition to a high-dollar gala launch for the PAC in Minneapolis in November, Pawlenty is planning a Washington fundraiser for late October designed to acquaint the governor with the Beltway’s most influential Republicans. Helping to coordinate the governor’s GOP outreach in the nation’s capital is Sam Geduldig, a well-connected lobbyist and former senior aide to Reps. John Boehner and Roy Blunt.

Serving as the PAC’s counsel is Michael Toner, a veteran campaign lawyer in Washington. Alex Conant, a native Minnesotan and former Republican National Committee spokesman, will serve as communications director.

The governor has also inked political technology consultants Patrick Ruffini, Mindy Finn, Patrick Hynes and Liz Mair to develop what Pawlenty advisers hope will be the most sophisticated new-media presence of any Republican in the nation. Pawlenty launches a new website, www.timpawlenty.com, Thursday.

The second-term Minnesota governor, who is not seeking reelection next year, is focused on twin political goals, his advisers say: helping elect two Republican governors this fall from his perch as Republican Governors Association vice chairman and using his PAC to aid like-minded candidates running in next year’s midterm elections.

But Pawlenty is doing far more than that to establish his presence in the minds of Republican voters.

He is also traveling the country at a fevered clip, appearing at scores of GOP and conservative events to speak to the party faithful, and becoming a frequent national TV presence, especially on cable television, where he’s able to offer sharp critiques of President Barack Obama’s latest moves.

And behind the scenes, he’s engaged in a far more subtle campaign against another possible presidential rival.

Pawlenty has been phoning aides and advisers to Romney’s 2008 campaign, ostensibly to introduce himself and solicit their advice.

One midlevel Romney aide who got a call suggested the Minnesotan was targeting younger operatives who may be open to another candidate in 2012 should the former Massachusetts governor stock the senior levels of his next potential run with the same cast as last time.

Pawlenty also recently reached out to another well-known Romney supporter from a key early-primary state, asking questions about the state’s political dynamics.

“Not a lot of people outside of Minnesota know Gov. Pawlenty very well, and as he tries to help Republicans around the country, it makes sense for him to reach out to a lot of people,” said Conant, when asked about the forward-leaning tactics. “As he puts together a team to run the PAC with a focus on 2010, he wants the best people available.”

But such conversations have another effect, as Pawlenty and his team are well aware — they serve notice to the small community of political insiders that the governor is serious about a White House run.

The same can be said about the selection of Weber as co-chairman of his PAC. The former Minnesota congressman-turned-GOP lobbyist and strategist was an early backer of Romney’s primary run, serving as campaign policy chairman and a close adviser.

“I’m a free agent,” Weber said when asked about his 2012 loyalties, noting he had told senior Romney officials about his decision to help lead Pawlenty’s PAC. He was emphatic that his efforts for Pawlenty are about 2010 — “doing something positive for the Republican Party” — and not the next presidential race.

Pawlenty is holding one-on-one meetings with Republicans nearly everywhere he goes and is going to some lengths to make sure his message is correctly calibrated. Before the recent Family Research Council’s Value Voters Summit, for example, he held a conference call with a team of advisers, including pollster Tony Fabrizio and longtime conservative strategist Greg Mueller, to help shape his speech and general approach at an event where he got rave reviews and finished a surprising third in the straw poll.

Further, Pawlenty has used public appearances and op-eds to criticize the health care plan Romney put in place in Massachusetts.

Taken together, Pawlenty’s efforts reflect a Republican trying to carve out a niche for himself in the very early 2012 jockeying. Before anyone else enters the arena, he’s seeking to win over Republicans who are reluctant, or downright unwilling, to embrace Romney and who think that other potential candidates — notably former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — are nonstarters in a general election.

“Who else is a credible alternative that’s going to have a national campaign infrastructure?” asked one Republican operative, listing only Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) as another potential entrant, before noting that the senator has done little to suggest he’s interested in challenging Obama.

“There are basically two guys who are electable conservatives,” said another plugged-in Republican, assessing a field that right now seems notably thin.

Yet Pawlenty lacks a few important strengths that some of his possible opponents enjoy. He doesn’t have the ability to finance his own campaign as Romney does, nor does he maintain anything close to the former presidential hopeful’s donor and grass-roots base. He lacks Huckabee’s natural hold on social conservatives. And he’s never going to enjoy a fervent following like the one Palin can point to.

It’s also not entirely clear what Pawlenty’s signature issues will be, since there is no overarching accomplishment in St. Paul that he could clearly run on.

Pawlenty’s early maneuvering, however, could address one of the political class’s early raps against him: that, while he may be a young and appealing conservative from a blue state, he lacks the organization or capacity to raise the kind of money needed to win the presidential nomination.

Nelson initially ran Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2007 and was the national political director on the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004. Taylor was also a senior official on the Bush campaign and did a stint as White House political director at the start of his second term. Musser ran the Republican Governors Association in 2006 and advised Romney at the outset of his 2008 White House run. Fabrizio and Mueller have also worked on GOP presidential campaigns.

Strong was a Ranger, or top Bush fundraising bundler, in 2004 and for McCain. He’s joined by a group of Minnesotans, including former Target CEO Bob Ulrich, GOP strategist Jeff Larson and TCF Financial Corp. CEO Bill Cooper.

Pawlenty’s team also includes a number of operatives who worked for different candidates in the last GOP primary. On the Web team alone are individuals from the campaigns of McCain, Romney and Rudy Giuliani.

A group of Pawlenty loyalists in Minnesota, Trisha Hamm, Annie Kelly and Don Stiles, will help run the business side of the St. Paul-based PAC.