Generally identified in the polls as a candidate struggling to draw excitement, presidential contender Tim Pawlenty roused up a large faith audience Friday with strong talk on national defense and traditional values.

Like the other candidates to grace the stage at the Faith and Freedom Conference, Pawlenty denounced the government for overstepping its bounds in the work and health care sectors. Providing a solid national defense, however, is within the government’s bounds, said the former governor of Minnesota. Given that role, he said he would take on the role of Commander-in-Chief with authority.

“We can’t … continue to be a great nation unless we’re secure,” he said. “Let’s remember that the individuals and the mindset that perpetuated the horrible acts of September 11, 2001 that killed 3,000 or so of our fellow citizens, that mindset still exists and if they could have killed not 3,000, but 30,000 or 300,000 or 3 million, they would have,” he stated.

As president, Pawlenty said he would secure the nation by clearly defining the enemy.
He shared, “We need to stand strong, vigilant and diligent to make sure those threats are identified, called by name, and defeated before they operationalize.

The remarks drew thunderous applause from the conservative Christian crowd and produced a kind of energy that Pawlenty desperately needed to kick his campaign into high gear.

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