It’s never too early to start the next presidential race;  a whole bunch of Republicans started doing just that on November 5, 2008.

And with campaign money a pivotal ingredient in getting races off the ground and sustaining them over a two or three year period, it’s no wonder some GOP hopefuls are focusing a lot of attention on Jewish voters.

Case in point: Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is doing all the things presidential hopefuls do in the early stages of a race: assembling an inner political brain trust, creating a political action committee that has his name in it, stumping the country for other Republican candidates, banking political IOUs and getting to know Iowa, where the early caucuses will be the first major hurdle for 2012 presidential aspirants.

Pawlenty’s main man in the Jewish community is former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), whose 2008 defeat at the hands of Sen. Al Franken was in the courts for many months.

Not surprisingly, Coleman is  optimistic that Pawlenty, not exactly a household name to Jewish voters,  is well positioned to do what so many other Republicans have failed to do: attract a much bigger chunk of the Jewish presidential vote.

“His appeal to Jewish voters will be the same as for voters across the board,” Coleman told me last week. “He is thoughtful and smart, he understands that our party has to unite and reach out rather than divide.  He knows how to get things done. The qualities he has I wish more in our party had.”

Does that sound like a pointed criticism of the rightward tilt of the party in recent years? Maybe, but Coleman doesn’t put it in such stark terms.

“What Tim has is appeal to center-right voters,” Coleman said. “And I believe that more and more in the Jewish community see themselves as center-right. That doesn’t mean you abandon the most conservative in the party; they’re part of the mix. But the ability to draw independents is critical.”

Pawlenty, according to Coleman,  is “very comfortable with people across the Republican party.”

Coleman believes “T-Paw’s”  views on taxes and small business will appeal to many Jewish voters, but other observers say the governor’s close ties to the religious right – a  constituency he needs to attract to win the GOP nod – and his anti-abortion, pro-gun views may make him no more attractive to rank and file Jewish voters than past GOP hopefuls.

On the other hand, the recent American Jewish Committee Survey of Jewish Public Opinion points to a small decline in Jews identifying as Democrats and a 4-point increase in those who say they are independent. So I suppose there’s hope the right GOP nominee could do better than Sen. John McCain, who mustered 22 percent of the Jewish vote last November.

Pawlenty faces an already-crowded GOP field that includes former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee – who is already making moves to attract hawkish pro-Israel voters.