ABC News' Matthew Jaffe (@JaffeMatt) reports from Des Moines: Eight months before the Iowa caucuses, Tim Pawlenty formally kicked off his campaign for president today in Des Moines, denouncing President Obama's policies, touting his record as governor of Minnesota, and promising to tell Americans the "hard truths" even if it hurts.
"Fluffy promises of hope and change don't buy our groceries, make our mortgage payments, or pay for our children's clothes," Pawlenty told the crowd at the State Historical Building here. "So in my campaign I'm going to take a different approach. I am going to tell you the truth. The truth is, Washington is broken."
"We've tried Barack Obama's way and his way has failed," he said. "Three years into his term, we're no longer just running out of money. We're running out of time."
One of the "hard truths" that Pawlenty told this Iowa audience was that it is time to start phasing out ethanol subsidies, something that will be a tough sell in the Hawkeye state, to say the least.
"We need to phase out subsidies across all sources of energy and all industries, including ethanol," he said. "We simply can't afford them anymore. Some people will be upset by what I'm saying. Conventional wisdom says you can't talk about ethanol in Iowa or Social Security in Florida or financial reform on Wall Street. But someone has to say it. Someone has to finally stand up and level with the American people. Someone has to lead - I will."
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