DOVER, N.H. — Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who campaigned in New Hampshire for John McCain during the 2008 presidential primary, said Saturday he would offer voters here the same kind of blunt talk and authenticity if he runs for president.

That decision won’t come until early next year, though Pawlenty has been laying the groundwork, taking several trips to Iowa and New Hampshire in the last year and setting up fundraising operations for local candidates in both key states. In a brief speech to Republicans at a picnic Saturday, Pawlenty stuck to broad themes of fiscal discipline and tough foreign policy, but in an interview later, he described what he sees as his appeal to New Hampshire voters.

Pawlenty said he doesn’t think the support McCain enjoyed in both his 2000 and 2008 campaigns is necessarily transferrable, given that every candidate has his or her own strengths, record and life story. But he said watching McCain in New Hampshire showed him that the state’s voters are pragmatic and value authenticity.

“John McCain is a person who’s real. There was grit, and there was a life story there that authenticated who he was and what he did and what he believes,” said Pawlenty, who has hired one of McCain’s deputy campaign managers in New Hampshire as his adviser in the state. “While my life story is different, I think as a conservative who got elected twice in a very liberal place, that’s one of my strengths as well. You may agree with me, you may disagree with me, but I’ll give it to you straight.”

Pawlenty emphasized his blue-collar background — his father was a truck driver — and said that allows him to connect with people “at the heart and gut level.”

“I think if people get a chance to get to know me and my background, they’ll see that my life story — my values and perspective and things I’ve learned along the way — lines up with the story of most everyday people,” he said. “I think that’s a good thing for Republicans to have: messengers who not just can recite policy stuff, which I can do, but also have a life story and background that gives it credibility because I’ve actually lived it.”

Earlier, Pawlenty spoke to about 100 people, many of them candidates for state and federal offices, packed into a small shelter at a city park as it rained outside. He stayed longer than most of the federal candidates, shaking hands and speaking to voters, many of whom he said urged him to run for president.

“Everyone’s mind is on 2010 but in 2012, we’re going to be ground zero again for taking back the White House,” state Sen. Jeb Bradley said in introducing Pawlenty.

Bill O’Connor, a pilot from Barrington who is running for state representative, said he thinks Pawlenty should run and he probably would support him. He said he’s looking for a truly conservative candidate when it comes to government spending.

“Not a compassionate conservative,” he said. “Someone who wants a smaller government and less people on social programs. Less of everything. I don’t think there’s any part of government that’s not too big right now.”

Pawlenty said the economy and jobs are overwhelmingly the biggest concern of the voters he’s met, but they are tied to larger worries about out-of-control spending.

“Places like New Hampshire and Minnesota do a little better than the rest of the nation in terms of the economy, but the overriding issue is the economy and jobs,” he said. “And related to that is the sense that government is spending too much too fast. It’s becoming too concentrated in Washington, D.C., and the federal level, and they want to see government live within its means.”