Rick Perry may be getting the greater accolades among the GOP faithful at this moment, but credit Mitt Romney for snagging the first big trophy endorsement from a former candidate. Tim Pawlenty just endorsed Romney during a Fox News interview, giving support in the form of this very enthusiastic remark: "I think he's going to be a transformational and great president for this country." Pawlenty, as Business Insider's Zeke Miller noted, also pointedly hit Rick Perry for his views on Social Security, saying that Mitt doesn't want to "abolish or end" the entitlement program. And, via Politico, we gather his statement on being a potential veep for any one of the current candidates: it looks like a "No." Looks like T-Paw's fine with getting out of the campaign spotlight for a while.

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Erik Hayden