Politics

Tim Pawlenty on not getting the 2008 GOP VP slot

By Clifden Kennedy

March 22, 2011 / 8:17 PM EDT / CBS News

On Monday, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty announcedhe's forming a presidential exploratory committee. This is his official first step towards a possible presidential campaign in 2012. (Full interview embedded to the left.)

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric spoke with Pawlenty in January after the release of his new book "Courage to Stand."

Pawlenty told Couric said he was "honored to be considered" for the 2008 GOP vice president slot. On the morning he learned that he wasn't going to be the Republican VP nominee, he said he took his dog Mazy out for a walk. "She did her business and I picked it up with a plastic bag, and I thought this is the only number two I'm getting this week."