Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman said he may decide this week to run for the Republican presidential nomination, calling President Obama "absolutely" beatable, given the current "economic backdrop."

"We've got everything that any country would hope for in order to hit it out of the ballpark," said Huntsman in an interview with Peter Cook in Manchester, N.H., that will air Monday on Bloomberg Television's "Bottom Line." "We just don't have a plan, we don't have vision, we don't have the right leadership to get us there."

Huntsman, 51, is seeking to capitalize on his business, government and foreign-policy credentials to position himself as an alternative to the Republican frontrunner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. With a GOP presidential debate set for Monday in New Hampshire, Huntsman is drawing closer to declaring his candidacy.

"We're moving in that direction," he said. "We've got about all the boxes checked." He said he would meet with his family this week, "and then I think we'll be able to check that box."

He said his experience as ambassador to China under Obama until earlier this year was "very important," and that his experience as an executive at his family-run company had provided him with "knowledge of the private sector."

PAWLENTY: 5% GROWTH IS 'STRETCH GOAL'

Republican presidential candidate and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said his proposal to stoke the U.S. economy to grow at 5 percent each year is an "aspiration" that goes hand-in-hand with his plan to slash taxes and curb government expenditures.

Pawlenty, 50, told "Fox News Sunday" that he would "dramatically reduce spending" on federal programs to pay for tax cuts that may lower revenue by as much as $11.6 trillion over a decade. Achieving 5 percent economic growth each year is a "stretch goal," he said. "This is an aspiration. It's a big goal," he said.

His proposal also would reduce taxes and make cuts to mandatory and discretionary government programs, he said. Taken together, the policies would "unleash economic growth," he said.

President Obama is "leading from behind" when it comes to addressing the economy, Pawlenty said on the Fox program. "He has run out of ideas," he said. "We have tried it his way, and it doesn't work."

TOO MINNESOTA NICE TO BE PRESIDENT?

Pawlenty sought Sunday to bat down suggestions that he's too "nice" and too "bland" to take the political fight to Obama.

Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said last week that Pawlenty was "invisible" and that ice cream maker Häagen-Dazs could put his picture on vanilla ice cream.

Pawlenty asked "Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace whether O'Reilly was "playing the race card on me." Wallace said he thought O'Reilly was discussing "the taste, not the color."

Then Pawlenty said he had a strong record in running a state, but that "being strong is not the same as being loud."

And Pawlenty said "if you want the clown in chief, vote for somebody else. That's not me."

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