Tim Pawlenty told voters at a town hall today in Des Moines, Iowa, that he will run for president. Between the video previewing the announcement, the comments released ahead of time, and Pawlenty’s own slip of the tongue in April on CNN (“I’m running for president”), that announcement probably didn’t shock anyone.

So here’s what might: Pawlenty also railed against ethanol and farm subsidies. In Iowa.

“We need to cut spending, and we need to cut it…big time. The hard truth is that there are no longer any sacred programs,” Pawlenty said in his speech. “The truth about federal energy subsidies, including federal subsidies for ethanol, is that they have to be phased out. We need to do it gradually. We need to do it fairly. But we need to do it.”

It’s a daring statement to make, particularly considering how crucial winning Iowa looks to be for the Pawlenty campaign.

But if this speech is any indication, Pawlenty looks he’s planning to charge sacred cows in rhetoric while campaigning.

“Later this week, I’m going to New York City, to tell Wall Street that if I’m elected, the era of bailouts, handouts, and carve outs will be over,” Pawlenty said. “No more subsidies, no more special treatment. No more Fannie and Freddie, no more TARP, and no more ‘too big to fail.’”

He’s also planning to go to Florida tomorrow and tell affluent seniors that “we will means test Social Security’s annual cost-of-living adjustment.”

“Conventional wisdom says you can’t talk about ethanol in Iowa or Social Security in Florida or financial reform on Wall Street,” Pawlenty said. “But someone has to say it. Someone has to finally stand up and level with the American people. Someone has to lead.”

Full speech transcript here.