Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty headlined the Missouri Republican Party’s 111th Lincoln Days kickoff banquet Friday night, delivering a speech that gave many of the more than 850 attendees the impression they were watching a prospective 2012 president candidate test the waters. Following speeches by Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder and three members of the state’s Congressional delegation (Reps. Roy Blunt, Blaine Luetkemeyer and Todd Akin), Governor Pawlenty took the stage at the St. Charles Convention Center in St. Charles. For more than 30 minutes, seemed to push all of the right buttons by combining personal anecdotes and humor with serious messages about the nation’s past, present and future.the two-term Republican. After the speech, he shook hands for more than an hour before meeting with five members of the St. Louis news media and me. [Note: In the video below, the last question asked is mine.] BobMcCarty.com