Pawlenty names Huckabee daughter as top Iowa aide

[July 06, 2011]  DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty is naming the daughter of 2008 Iowa caucus winner Mike Huckabee to help lift his own effort ahead of a key test of strength in Iowa.

Pawlenty's campaign says Sarah Huckabee Sanders begins today as the former Minnesota governor's senior adviser for the state's Republican straw poll.

The Aug. 13 event at Iowa State University is seen as a test of strength for Republican presidential candidates ahead of the leadoff caucuses, set for February.

Pawlenty has spent a year and a half meeting Iowa Republicans and building a circle of top Iowa consultants, but registered only 6 percent in a recent Iowa poll.

Sanders was Huckabee's 2008 national political director. Huckabee finished second in the August straw poll and surged to win the caucuses.

[Associated Press]

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