ST. CHARLES – Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty brought a partisan Republican crowd to its feet tonight in his keynote Lincoln Days speech. Pawlenty, a likely presidential candidate in 2012, told the crowd of more than 600 that Republicans need to seize momentum back from the Deomocrats, who took control of the White House and Congress in 2008.

“We have misguided liberals all across this country … chipping away at these pillars every day and we need to grab their arms and stop them,” he said.

Pawlenty also offered his support for Congressman Roy Blunt, who is running for U.S. Senate. Earlier in the day, Pawlenty had spoken at a Blunt fund-raiser in Clayton.

The Minnesota governor spoke of the Republican Party needing to stick to its core principles, including recognizing that “God is in charge” and limiting the role of government.

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder introduced Pawlenty as a “genuine, bonafide star in the Republican Party.”

Pawlenty, as he has at other speeches, warmed the crowd up with a couple of jokes with a cell phone theme, saying that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on the “family but no friends” plan and that golfer Tiger Woods should be on the “no roaming” plan.

He railed on the out of control spending that he said has occurred under the administration of President Barack Obama. “If this were a bank, they would shut it down,” Pawlenty said.

The possible presidential candidate also stretched his foreign policy wings, criticizing Obama for his “apology tour” and suggesting that some of Obama’s decisions have left allies wondering about the nation’s relative strength.

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