Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for president this morning.
Pawlenty finished third yesterday in the Iowa Straw Poll.
The AP reported:
Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty dropped out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination on Sunday, hours after finishing a disappointing third in the Iowa straw poll.
"I wish it would have been different, but obviously the pathway forward for me doesn't exist so we are going to end the campaign," Pawlenty said on ABC's "This Week" from Iowa. The low-key Midwesterner, who had struggled to gain traction in a state he had said he must win, had told supporters on a conference call shortly before the broadcast interview that he was ending his White House bid.
"I thought I would have made a great president, but obviously that pathway isn't there," Pawlenty said. "I do believe we're going to have a very good candidate who is going to beat Barack Obama."
he two-term ex-governor of a Democratic-leaning state was on Arizona Sen. John McCain's short list for the vice presidential spot in 2008. He had spent roughly two years laying the groundwork for his 2012 campaign and had hoped to become the alternative to the national front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
