The 2012 GOP presidential race has claimed its first casualty.
Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty has ended his bid for the presidency, after coming in 3rd in the unofficial Iowa straw poll Saturday.
Pawlenty informed his supporters in a conference call, prior to making a surprise formal announcement on ABC’s This Week. “We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward,” Pawlenty told ABC’s Jake Tapper. “That didn’t happen so I’m announcing this morning on your show that I’m going to be ending my campaign for president.” Pawlenty said he offered “a rational, established, credible strong record of results. …But I think the audience, so to speak, was looking for something different.”
The Iowa straw poll saw Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann come in 1st place with 29% of the vote. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas was 2nd with 28% and Tim Pawlenty came in a distant 3rd with only 14%. The remaining candidates were so far down the list that other drop outs from the race may soon follow. The weekend addition of Texas Gov. Rick Perry into the contest, who is already polling as a close 2nd to perceived frontrunner Mitt Romney, will likely have a strong impact on the race quickly thinning.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has been mired in controversy since announcing his presidential run and never really caught fire with the GOP base, will likely call it quits soon as well. Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former Godfather’s Pizza CEO Herman Cain, who came in 5th in the Iowa straw poll, may also soon see the writing on the wall.
And as for Sarah Palin — well…
