Tea Party group is to stop Mitt Romney from winning the Republican nomination

A top goal of the nation’s most influential national Tea Party group is to stop Mitt Romney from winning the Republican nomination for president.

Interviews with top officials at FreedomWorks, a Washington-based organizing hub for Tea Party activists around the country, revealed that much of their thinking about the 2012 election revolves around derailing the former Massachusetts governor.

“Romney has a record and we don’t really like it that much,” said Adam Brandon, the group’s communications director.

FreedomWorks is led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas) and Matt Kibbe, an economist and former Capitol Hill aide. More than 30 employees, as well as a fresh class of several interns, work out of spacious seventh floor offices near the U.S. Capitol. The group knows they cannot impose their will on the fiercely independent conservative organizers fueling the Tea Party

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty Announcement ,

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty released a web video on Sunday previewing his plans to kick off a campaign for president of the United States.

The Republican hopeful is expected to officially declare his candidacy at a town hall in the key early primary state of Iowa on Monday.

"We need a president who understands that our problems are deep, and has the courage to face them. President Obama does not. I do," Pawlenty says in a note accompanying the clip. "Announcing my presidential campaign at a town hall in Iowa, I will begin a campaign that tells the American people the truth. Together, we will change this country, and this time it'll be for the better."

News of Pawlenty's decision to enter the race for the Republican presidential nomination should come as no surprise. The former governor launched a presidential exploratory committee earlier this year and has made no attempt to hide his political ambitions.