If the road to the White House is paved with dollars, Gov. Tim Pawlenty added a few bricks to his path Wednesday night.
He picked up perhaps as much as $300,000 at the first major fundraiser for his political action committee, called Freedom First PAC, at the Minneapolis Hilton.
Pawlenty thanked a crowd of about 300 donors who each gave $1,000 for joining him "on this journey and mission that we are on." He said his goal was to "launch an American comeback in this county."
"We're adrift," he said during the event's opening cocktail party. "There's a sense that the government can do it all, and you and I know that's a very flawed premise."
The event also included a dinner at which the minimum donation was $5,000, and the suggested contribution for chairs went up to $100,000. It is likely to be the biggest Republican fundraiser in Minnesota in 2009.
The PAC "will provide Governor Pawlenty with the resources and infrastructure he needs to spread our conservative message in Minnesota and across America," the invitation said.
It also will provide the governor, who is not running for a third term, some of the cash and chits he will need should he decide to run for president in 2012.
But as he has before, Pawlenty downplayed the connection between the PAC and his potential political ambitions.