“You’re going to have, you know, Mitt Romney who will start out as the front-runner with the most name-ID and money…” Pawlenty told CNN’s Piers Morgan in handicapping the race. “And on the other end of the continuum, you’ll have perhaps Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Donald Trump, or I don’t know, maybe Hulk Hogan will get in the race too. Who knows? But I think in between those two things on the continuum, there’s a role for a serious person who has tackled these kinds of issues. We live in very serious times and the country’s facing a grave challenge. And if we’re going to restore America’s promise, we’re going to have to get back to leadership that is steady, clear and strong.”

Pawlenty was quick to emphasize that he means “no disrespect to those others,” and he pivoted to say that President Barack Obama has “never run anything before” and is “clearly in over his head.” But the message of holding himself up as a serious alternative to other potential candidates was a clear one.