Mr. Pawlenty offered supportive language that was well understood by opponents of abortion and same-sex marriage, talking about “the sanctity of life” and “traditional marriages.” He also rejected any kind of secular view of government as he listed “four ideas that I think should carry us forward.”

“The first one is this: God’s in charge,” he said. “There are some people who say, ‘Oh, you know, Pawlenty, don’t bring that up. You know it’s politically incorrect.’ Hogwash.”…

“When you listen to the elites and the pundits talk about the Tea Party movement, or they talk about us as conservatives, they may not always say it explicitly,” he said. “But implicit in their comments are, you know, maybe they’re not as sophisticated, because a lot of them didn’t go to the Ivy League schools. Or you know, they’re from places like the heartland, not — you know, they don’t hang out at our Chablis-drinking, Brie-eating parties in San Francisco.”

“And the implication is, you know, we’re kind of bumpkins,” Mr. Pawlenty said.