Republican Presidential Hopefuls Refine Their Anti-Obamacare Credentials

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2010 -- Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced on Tuesday that he is going to sue over President Obama's federal health-care law.

"The federal government is now requiring citizens under penalty of a fine to buy a good or a service, and we think that's an unprecedented overreach by the federal government into the lives of individual citizens," the Republican said.

Pawlenty, who is gearing up to run for president in 2012, is one of several high-profile Republicans seemingly trying to prove they are the most anti-Obamacare candidate in the field.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who is weighing a GOP presidential run of her own, has used her Facebook page to put 20 House Democrats "in the cross-hairs."

The 20 districts targeted by Palin are all represented by a Democratic member of Congress who voted for Obama's health-care overhaul, even though they represent districts that were carried by McCain-Palin in 2008.

The health-care plan that Mitt Romney enacted as governor of Massachusetts served as a model for Obama's federal health-care plan.

But the Romney team knows that the individual mandate contained in the Massachusetts plan is unpopular among conservative activists.

So the once and likely future Republican presidential candidate is promoting what he calls his "Prescription for Repeal."

Obama Health-Care Overhaul Fuels GOP Presidential Hopefuls

Romney's "prescription" entails giving money to Republican congressional candidates around the country who vow to repeal and reform Obama's health-care law.

With his announcement Tuesday, Pawlenty became the latest potential Republican presidential candidate to hone his anti-Obamacare credentials.

On Tuesday afternoon, Pawlenty's spokesman notified reporters that the Minnesota governor plans to sue over Obama's federal health-care law.

Pawlenty will either join the suit already being brought by 13 Republican state attorneys general or bring one himself, his spokesman said.

Pawlenty feels compelled to take this action himself, according to his spokesman, because the state's Democratic attorney general, Lori Swanson, rejected Pawlenty's request that she file a lawsuit on behalf of the state.

Echoing the view of the Obama administration and many legal experts, Swanson said a suit isn't warranted because the new requirement to purchase health insurance fits squarely within the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce.

ABC News' Dean Schabner and Matt Loffman contributed to this report.