Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on Monday blamed President Barack Obama's policies for high unemployment and declared he will officially test the waters for a Presidential run by forming an exploratory committee.

Romney will join former Minnesota Gov. Jim Pawlenty as the only other Republican who has officially declared an exploratory committee for the 2012 election. Last week Obama announced his plans to run for re-election and is expected to be unopposed.

I am announcing my exploratory committee for the presidency of the United States. It's time that we put America back on the course of greatness, Romney said in a video posted on YouTube.

This effort isn't about a person. It's about the cause of American freedom and greatness. I'd like to ask you to join with us, volunteer, donate or just pass along this message to a friend.

He said Washington politicians had put America on a dangerous course and that the problem had worsened over the past two years.

In a video announcing the exploratory committee, Romney noted that 20 million Americans could not currently find jobs or had given up looking and asked how this could happen in a nation which leads the world in innovation and productivity.

The answer is that President Obama's policies have failed. He and virtually all of the people around him have never worked in the real economy. They just don't know how jobs are created in the private sector, he said.

He touted his 25 years of business experience and said that experience helped him streamline Massachusetts' state government when he was governor from 2003 to 2004.

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