Pawlenty quits after third place straw poll finish

Despite finishing third in the Ames Iowa Straw Poll, former Minnesota Governor, Tim Pawlenty has dropped out of the race for President. His finish was disappointing as it was well behind the front runners, Michelle Bachmann and Ron Paul who each finished close to one another. Pawlenty told staff during a conference call Sunday morning, "The pathway forward for me doesn't really exist and so we're going to end the campaign." Pawlenty later congratulated Rep. Michelle Bachmann on her win.

LOS ANGELES, (Catholic Online) - Following his announcement, Pawlenty was interviewed by reporters. He was asked if he would be interested in being a vice presidential contender. "That's not something I'm even going to consider." He added that he might endorse a candidate down the road.

Rep. Michelle Bachmann, who narrowly beat Ron Paul with 4,823 votes to Paul's 4,671, and Pawlenty with 2,293, said, "I wish him well. I have great respect for the governor. We've known each other for a long, long time. And he brought a really important voice into this race.  And I'm grateful that he was in. He was a really a very good competitor.
 
Six Republican presidential hopefuls showed up to the straw poll and appealed for an early vote of support. Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum was a distant fourth with 1,657 votes, Herman Cain with 1,456 votes, and former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romeny got just 567 votes. Romeny finished behind write-in Texas Governor Rick Perry who declared his candidacy that morning and wasn't even on the ballot. At the bottom, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was on the ballot, but only got 385 votes.
 
The straw poll, which is an early bellwether of  who is popular and who isn't for Republican hopefuls. It is used by candidates to establish early credibility with voters and to test viability for a successful campaign bid. Typically candidates who do poorly in the straw poll drop out, even if after several days following.

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