Tim Pawlenty remembers the late nights in 2008, working with his wife, Mary, to pull together all the documents John McCain's campaign requested as it vetted potential running mates.

"No staff. Only us," Pawlenty wrote in his book, "Courage to Stand." "I remember the two of us joking one night at some inhumane hour, 'No way Mitt Romney is doing this by himself.' "

Four years later, he laughs at the memory -- and the second time around.

"Well, we don't talk about the vetting process in the Romney campaign," the former Minnesota governor told CNN in a recent interview. "But, in general, I've been through this before, and when you've done something before, it's easier to be more casual about it the second time. But I don't want to say it is no big deal. ... It just comes a bit easier."

A bit easier. But still a big deal.

And put Pawlenty high on the short list of Republicans more anxious than most as they await the decision.

In the early days of the 2012 campaign, Pawlenty generated headlines -- and drew the ire of Romney -- by using the term "Obamneycare" to suggest there was no difference between the health care plans of the Democratic president and the former Massachusetts governor.

Now though Pawlenty is a short-list contender to share the ticket with Romney -- in part because he is in some ways very much like Romney. But perhaps more so because he is so many things the GOP's presumptive nominee is not.

Atop that "anti-Romney" list are Pawlenty's blue-collar roots, which put him at ease in many settings in which Romney can appear awkward or unfamiliar.

Places such as Dayton's Dublin Pub.

"President Obama is all foam and no beer," Pawlenty tells a modest crowd during a recent visit, his way of suggesting the incumbent's actions have not matched his lofty promises and rhetoric.

Like any of the candidates on Romney's short list, there are pros and cons.

For Pawlenty, the plus side begins with an upbringing on the streets, and ice rinks, of South St. Paul, Minnesota. Romney's dad was an auto executive and then a big state governor; Pawlenty's was a truck driver.

"The dominant focus economically for the town back in the '60s and '70s were these mammoth meatpacking plants," Pawlenty told CNN. "They all suddenly shut down, and as a young boy I saw this massive job loss, economic dislocation and heartache. ... It's one thing to talk about it. It's another thing to have lived it and experienced it."

The Pawlenty biography is compelling at a time when Obama and Romney spar for support among middle-class independents.

"My dad was an electrician," Pawlenty childhood friend Paul Voight told CNN in an interview in a classroom he recalled as the place Pawlenty learned high school biology. ("Tried to learn" is Pawlenty's memory.)

"We had a neighbor who was a painter," Voight said in describing their childhood neighborhood. "One who worked in a factory making cans, I think. One was a bricklayer. One was a mailman. Tim's dad was a truck driver for many years."

His childhood friends, who describe themselves now as independents from a strong Democratic area, recall Pawlenty as a good student, occasional prankster and hard worker, whether trying to improve his hockey skills or earn a few bucks.

"He woke up in the morning and delivered papers before school," Voight told us. "He bagged groceries to get through college. He's been working hard for a long time."

When the meatpacking plants were humming, there was a good feel, high school classmate LaVern Meyer remembers.

"Everybody worked hard in this community. Everybody lived moderately but not excessively."

In one snapshot into how Pawlenty is a little different, Meyer tells the story of time spent at the modest Pawlenty family cabin.

"Me and Tim we're going out fishing," Meyer said. "Well, Tim put the motor on the boat and we went out. Well, the motor fell off in the lake. Tim's dad wasn't so happy."

Pawlenty laughs at the memory. And then volunteers the rest of the story.

"There were girls across the lake at a camp," he says with a laugh. "That's where we were trying to go."