GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty has released a new video in which he talks extensively about his Christian faith with his wife.
In the nearly six-minute video, the former Minnesota governor discusses growing up Catholic in South St. Paul and then converting to his wife Mary's evangelical faith and attending Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie.
The couple also discuss issues like abortion, gay marriage and the separation of church and state in the video.
Along with the video's recent release, Sarah Huckabee (daughter of Mike Huckabee), who now works for Pawlenty's campaign, sent out an e-mail to Huckabee supporters playing up the Pawlentys' faith. A portion of the letter is below:
Huckabee was a favorite of evangelical voters in the last Republican presidential primary, but has announced he won't be running this time around. The six-minute video is Pawlenty's latest attempt at courting the influential evangelical voting bloc, which helped elect George W. Bush twice.
And he appears to be gaining some traction -- at least among evangelical leaders -- leading the list of preferred 2012 Republican presidential candidates in a recent poll of leaders of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) — which also happens to be led by Pawlenty's pastor, the Rev. Leith Anderson.
The poll shows 45 percent said they would name Pawlenty as the Republican candidate. Mitt Romney trailed Pawlenty with 14 percent. Twenty-two percent were undecided.
