BLOOMINGTON - From state to national races, the Republican Party is facing a "higher hill to climb" in the coming election season.

But instead of giving up, Republican Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty encouraged local party members to be optimistic.

"You can tick off the top issues that come up in the political debate … and we can win those Sam's Club Republicans," Pawlenty said, referring to the group of swing voters also known as Reagan Democrats. "They want to know we are looking out for them."

Pawlenty, a possible contender to be Sen. John McCain's vice presidential candidate, was on his second trip to the Twin Cities this year to promote McCain. He spoke to a crowd of about 200 at the McLean County Republicans' Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner on Feb. 2 at The Parke Hotel and Conference Center in Bloomington.

"We need to remember why we are the Republican Party and get back to our core values," Pawlenty said. "We do have a higher hill to climb so this won't be easy."

Andy McKenna, the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, echoed some of the same themes as Pawlenty, saying the party needs to continue fighting for the state, too, where the Democrats control the General Assembly and the governor's office.

"If we are unified, we are on our way to regaining the leadership in the next few election cycles," McKenna said.

State Sen. Dan Rutherford, R-Chenoa, said the party may have a tough election this fall but party candidates could be poised to clean house in the election of 2010, the next election for the state's governor.

The dinner was is a good way to revitalize the party's efforts, said state Sen. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington. Brady met Pawlenty through the McCain campaign and arranged for Pawlenty's visits.

As to his possible candidacy for vice president, Pawlenty said he has not been contacted by McCain, the presumptive Republican candidate for president.

"That's just speculation," he said before the dinner. "I'm just trying to do my job."

But that did not stop Pawlenty from encouraging Republicans to support McCain in the upcoming election. He said the likely Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., lacks experience in key areas.

He also criticized Obama's willingness to meet with the leaders of countries hostile to the United States, such as Iran, calling Obama's position "an unwise approach."