With his second campaign video, Republican candidate for president Tim Pawlenty seems to be working with his media team to establish his brand as “Patriotic Midwestern Downer.” The video released today, “A Time for Truth,” presents in Depression-era black and white the candidate’s unsmiling narrow face with its deep-set eyes, and it opens with a 40-second chronicle of the nation’s woes. The message, in Pawlenty’s words: “Our country’s in big trouble.” This comes on the heels of Pawlenty’s pre-campaign video called “Courage to Stand,” which was a kind of motivational scolding. “None of this is gonna be easy,” he says. “We gotta roll up our sleeves.”

The former Minnesota governor is an underdog popular in Iowa and battling perceptions that he is an uncharismatic no-name who will push austerity, at least on Americans who are not already wealthy. His campaign so far seems to be embracing and promoting this image.

The Colorado Independent’s sister site in Iowa has been following and ranking the presidential campaigns as they develop on the ground in the Hawkeye state. Here’s how the site reported on the Pawlenty campaign: