Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty sounded off on a number of controversial topics last Thursday in an interview with “Meet the Press” host David Gregory at U. Minnesota.

The focus was on Pawlenty’s views and his possible 2012 presidential bid.

Pawlenty said he supports the Tea Party movement and said those involved are “mostly folks who are average Americans who want the country and the government to return to American common sense.”

The interview in Ted Mann Concert Hall was the show’s first stop on its “Across America” tour.

Pawlenty also defended his recent decision not to apply for up to $175 million in federal Race to the Top education funding, saying he believes strongly in the program, but Minnesota would not have been competitive nationally unless the Legislature passed K-12 education reform.

“They, in my view, bowed to the teacher unions … and are more interested in hugging them than dealing with reforming education in real, effective ways in Minnesota,” he said.

‘Meet the Press’

The University was selected to start the “Across America” tour because of a personal recommendation made by former Minnesota U.S. Rep. Vin Weber and was organized by the Humphrey Institute for Public Affairs’ Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.

“It’s wonderful for the University of Minnesota to be profiled on the premiere public affairs news show in the country,” Larry Jacobs, the center’s director, said. “We were the first place selected and they said we set the bar high.”

The University was selected on three criteria, according to “Meet the Press” Executive Producer Betsy Fischer.

For one, NBC had a strong Minnesota affiliate in KARE 11. Also, the program was looking for a university to host a public forum. The third criteria — and most important — was that Pawlenty was willing to make himself available.

“We wanted someplace where we had an interesting political figure, and we had that in Tim Pawlenty,” Fischer said.

The University was selected because it is easy to work with, Jacobs said.

“For them it was like make-believe,” he said. “They came to town and everything was set up.”

The 40-minute interview was followed by a 20-minute question and answer segment when a dozen audience members asked Pawlenty about issues ranging from gay marriage to the state budget deficit.

“Gov. Pawlenty did quite well,” Jacobs said. “It was hard not to be impressed.”

Immigration

The governor voiced support for Arizona’s new immigration law, which allows police to check the immigration status of those they suspect have entered the country illegally.

However, he said media coverage has mischaracterized the new law. Pawlenty denied that the law is an invitation to commit unlawful racial profiling.

Health care reform

When asked if he would repeal the new federal health care reform, Pawlenty said he would.

“I don’t like ‘Obamacare,’ ” he said, calling the reform “one of the most misguided pieces of legislation in the modern history of the country.”

Pawlenty said he was concerned over the health care law, which he said reflects 1940s thinking that comes from a one-size-fits-all bureaucracy in Washington, D.C. He said the system should “look more like an iPhone.”

He claimed the law will be a failure if the intention was to reduce health care spending.

“All they did is expand access to a broken system,” he said.

Oil spill and AIG

Some of the conversation focused on the federal government’s handling of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which Pawlenty criticized.

He said it’s too early to place blame, adding that “we need to hold this administration and BP accountable. But as we do that, we need to make sure we have good information and good facts.”

The crisis is likely to reveal shortfalls in the current administration’s reaction, he said.

“Why did they rely just on BP early on to tell us what the volume of the leak was?” Pawlenty asked. “Why didn’t we independently verify that using government sources?”

He said he is glad that President Barack Obama is “assuming responsibility and accountability,” though the government should have reacted more quickly.

Obama promised Tuesday “to investigate what went wrong” as he appointed former Florida Senator and Gov. Bob Graham and former Environmental Protection Agency Administrator William Reilly to lead an inquiry to investigate the nature of the oil spill, which he called “the worst oil spill in the U.S. history.”

Economy

Gregory asked Pawlenty whether he would give the Obama administration credit if the economy recovers.

“You can’t put this much money into the economy in the near term and not have it have some effect,” Pawlenty said. “But what I would suggest to you is its phony effect.”

Gregory pressed on, asking, “if there is a continued job growth on the pace we have seen so far this year, do you think that is a phony turnaround?”

Pawlenty said growth is not worth the price of potential national bankruptcy, adding that America will be buried in debt and may go the way of Greece.

Gregory responded that it’s fallacious to assume the country will go bankrupt.

“Unlike Greece, the United States can print its own currency,” he said.

Gregory prodded Pawlenty to name one painful choice that he would make in order to cut the deficit and bring the fiscal house in better order for the federal government.

“You are talking to somebody who, with the exception of military veterans, public safety and K-12 schools, has cut everything,” Pawlenty said.

“I like his conviction, his courage,” said Paul Hamilton, a Coon Rapids, Minn., financial consultant and self-proclaimed Democrat who was in the audience.

“I don’t like his policy, but that is a personal choice,” he said. “That is why we have a democracy.”

Gregory asked Pawlenty how champions of small government legitimize situations like the banking crisis and the recent oil disaster, in which the government can play a big role.

“We need a limited and effective government,” Pawlenty said. “So you have to prioritize and focus what you do, and those things that you do do, you need to do well.”

‘Creeping tyranny’

When asked about the “creeping tyranny” of the federal government under Obama — a term Pawlenty used in a speech in May — he responded, “The more the government does, the more it usurps traditional space in the private economy.”

The government’s method of taking money from citizens — using it for management and oversight and then reinserting a portion of it back into the economy — is not efficient, he said.

He said it also extinguishes entrepreneurial spirit, individual responsibility and the need for innovation.

“It is a form of tyranny,” he said. “It’s not an overstatement to say that.”

When asked if he would ever raise taxes, Pawlenty said, “The people of Minnesota know the answer to that: No.”

New Hampshire trip

Pawlenty announced last Tuesday that he will attend the Strafford County Republican Committee summer picnic in Dover, N.H., on July 10.

This will be Pawlenty’s third trip to New Hampshire — the first state to hold a presidential primary — since he announced he would not run for a third gubernatorial term.

Pawlenty is rumored to be a potential 2012 Republican Party presidential candidate. He has long evaded questions about his potential candidacy — and did so again Thursday — but said he would decide early in 2011.

A survey conducted by Rasmussen Reports in March found that 49 percent of the 500 Minnesota voters interviewed would not vote for Pawlenty for president in 2012. Another 35 percent said they would, and the final 16 percent were unsure.

The poll also found that Pawlenty holds a 22 percent job approval rating, while Obama’s is at 36 percent.

Pawlenty was happy to participate in the event, Brian McClung, Pawlenty’s spokesman, said.

“He appreciates chances to have longer discussions,” he said, “as so much of the political news coverage these days is a 10-second sound bite on the news or a 140-character tweet from a reporter.”

The show aired Sunday and is available online.