[Bolduan:] Not sure this would fit on a t-shirt, but President Obama's "vision to restore middle-class economic security" tour carries on today in Colorado. The president is spending two days in the state where he accepted his party's nomination back in 2008 and outpolled John McCain in November of that year. This year, though, it seems more of an uphill climb. A new poll shows Colorado leaning Mitt Romney's way right now with men among his strongest supporters, so the president is looking to women who favor his positions on health care, reproductive rights and working moms, of course, especially those in his own house.
[President Barack Obama:] Everybody knows Michelle. You know, the fact that we are partners in this process, this journey of life has been my source of strength and I want to make sure that she has control over her health care choices. I want to make sure that when she's working she's getting paid the same as men. I've got to say first lady's right now don't, even though that's a tough job.
[Bolduan:] The president speaks next hour in Pueblo, later in Colorado Springs and you will see both of those events live right here on CNN. So, you won't see a lot of Mitt Romney today, but it's definitely not a day off for him. The Republican challenger is fundraising in New York and New Jersey. He did take time to call into Bill Bennett's radio show and talk about and complain about negative campaigning. Listen here.
[Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Candidate:] I'm seeing some of the ads out there. I don't know whatever happened to a campaign of hope and change. I thought he was a new kind of politician.
[Bill Bennett, Radio Talk Show:] Yeah.
[Romney:] But instead, his campaign and the people working with him have focused almost exclusively on personal attacks and not at all on the issues of the day which is how to get more jobs and more take- home pay. It is really disappointing.
[Bolduan:] And if hasn't already, Romney also, we assume, is working pretty hard to make up his mind about his running mate. One name being bandied about is Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor. He may not be a household name, but as we hear from John King, that could change overnight.
[Tim King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] Tim Pawlenty wants you to know he likes beer.
[Tim Pawlenty, Former Minnesota Governor:] What'd you guys have for lunch? Corned beef?
[King:] And corned beef. And he's more than happy to go pub to pub, Ohio and elsewhere, making the case against President Obama.
[Pawlenty:] Have you have had enough of sky-high unemployment across America? Have you had enough of runaway federal spending? Have you had enough of ObamaCare?
[King:] Why might he share the ticket? Well, Policy-wise, he is very much in sync with Romney.
[Pawlenty:] A lot of happy people getting some ice cream.
[King:] And personally, he's the anti-Romney. His economic views shaped not by personal wealth, but by a blue collar upbringing on the streets of South St. Paul.
[Pawlenty:] The dominant focus, economically, for the town back in the '60s and '70s were these mammoth meatpacking plants. They all suddenly shut down and, as a young boy, I saw this massive job loss, economic dislocation, heartache, worry. It's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing to have lived it and experienced it.
[King:] Friends who shared the ice with young Tim Pawlenty or walked the halls of South St. Paul High in the late 1970s say what you see is what you get.
[Paul Voight, Pawlenty Childhood Friend:] He woke up in the morning and delivered papers before school. He bagged groceries to get through college. He's been working hard for a long time.
[Laverne Meyer, Pawlenty Childhood Friend:] Everybody worked hard in this community. Everybody lived moderately, but not excessively.
[King:] Blue collar roots are just one Pawlenty asset. Other pluses? A Catholic turned evangelical Protestant; like Romney, a GOP governor who had to deal with Democrats; a record of holding the line on government spending and no Washington baggage. His former chief of staff says Pawlenty's skills and interests fit the mold.
[Charlie Weaver, Former Pawlenty Chief Of Staff:] By the time he left, I think the average increase in state spending over his eight years is 1 percent. When he talks about education and the challenges of this country keeping up in a global economy, he gets fired up around that.
[King:] And the down sides? He raised cigarette taxes which angered conservatives at the time. Like Romney, he has limited foreign policy experience. There is zero evidence he would put deep blue Minnesota in play and a rap that national ambition led to a cautious course as governor.
[Mayor R. T. Rybak , Minneapolis:] People thought he could be a kind of a breakthrough figure who could bring moderate voices from different sides together. He got into office and became deeply partisan, unable to get much done. And in this case, spent most of his time running for national office.
[King:] He said Tim Pawlenty's a nice guy. Tim Pawlenty talks a great game, but Tim Pawlenty did nothing, wasted eight years of government.
[Pawlenty:] Well, Mayor Rybak, of course, is a leading spokesperson for the Obama campaign, so I would expect nothing less of him.
[King:] Comfort level is a big reason Pawlenty is on the short list. Yes, Pawlenty and Romney sparred at the start of this campaign. If it was "ObamneyCare" on "Fox News Sunday," why isn't it not "ObamneyCare" standing here with the governor right there? But when his bid stalled, Pawlenty was quick to endorse Romney.
[Pawlenty:] Are you ready for Mitt Romney to be the next president of the United States?
[King:] They were governors at the same time and they share a disappointment from the 2008 vice-presidential search. It left a bit of a mark on you. Has that had an impact on how you view the thing, view it at this time through?
[Pawlenty:] Well, we don't talk about the vetting process in the Romney campaign, but in general, you know, I've been through this before, so it's when you've done something before, it's easy and more casual and more relaxed the second time. So, I don't want to say it's no big deal, but it's a little bit of deja vu or familiar and I think it just becomes a little easier.
[Bolduan:] Our chief national correspondent John King is joining me now live. It's a fascinating look into the Tim Pawlenty that some of us have never met before, really because he's not really a household name. But it's interesting, John, because it doesn't seem like there are any hard feelings between Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty. Because Tim Pawlenty was pretty tough on Romney during the primary. It surprised me a bit.
[King:] He was. Especially on that healthcare issue. But it is the swiftness with which Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race. After that early debate, his fundraising dried up. He dropped out quickly. A lot of his advisors were furious at him, Kate. They thought he should stay in to see if he could get another opening down the road. He dropped out. He quickly made the decision to endorse Mitt Romney. It was not clear at that moment that Governor Romney would emerge as the leading candidate and as the nominee, so he took a bit of a risk. They are grateful for that inside the Romney campaign all the way up to the candidate. And they say he has done anything they asked, gone anywhere they wanted. And, so, he has built a good reservoir of support, including with the candidate himself who's getting close to making... Governor Romney will look for the Olympics to pass and look for this to happen next week. As to how, look, he's a very methodical guy. Like Tim Pawlenty, he did he not like the way the McCain campaign handled the vetting process back in 2008. Governor Romney was vetted then, as well. So, they have been very quiet, secretive about this. If you look at what we've learned about the short list, Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota; Rob Portman, the senator from Ohio; Paul Ryan, the congressman from Minnesota, what do they have in common? Blue collar, Midwestern voters are critical in this campaign and Governor Romney has essentially been testing them out on the campaign trail to see if one of them has any special magic not only in Ohio, maybe in Wisconsin, maybe in Pennsylvania. So, you see a pattern of looking towards the states in the Midwest, Michigan included, that Governor Romney think could be decisive in this election.
[Bolduan:] At times, it's almost seemed like an "American Idol" of vice-presidential candidates, as they've all been stumping for him out on the trail, once in a while. You mentioned Rob Portman. You're taking a closer look at some of the men on this short list. You're taking a look at Rob Portman tonight?
[King:] Rob Portman tonight. He was a House member. He's now in the Senate. He served in the first Bush administration as a policy aide in the White House. He served George W. Bush as trade representative and as budget director. He has the most Washington experience, if you will, of anybody on the short list. Some people say that's a great asset. If Governor Romney wins the election, he'd have someone who on day one can help him govern. Others say, boy, that's a Washington insider. It gives you baggage. Here's one little nugget we can tell you, Kate. I'm told by reliable source that the former vice president, Dick Cheney, has told Governor Romney he thinks Rob Portman is the best pick. Number one, he says you want to pick somebody who will help you govern. Dick Cheney believes Rob Portman is the best in the bunch in that regard. And Vice President Cheney and all of Portman's other friends believe he would give you at least a little bit of a bounce in Ohio. Romney can't win the White House, the math is almost impossible to do, without winning Ohio. So, if you look at Ohio and governing, you could say Senator Portman. But again, Governor Romney's the one who knows where he's going to go here.
[Bolduan:] That's absolutely right and we will wait and watch. And I'll be looking for an e-mail from you as soon as you get the announcement. John King, our chief national correspondent. Thanks so much, John.
[King:] Thank you.
[Bolduan:] Tim Pawlenty is stumping for Romney in Michigan today. And you can learn more about Rob Portman on "The Situation Room," 4:00 p.m. Eastern, right here, only here on CNN.