President 2012,  Tim Pawlenty

President 2012: Tim Pawlenty Drops Out of Republican Race for 2012 – So What?

Republican Presidential Candidate Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty speaks during the Iowa Republican Party’s Straw Poll, Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011, in Ames, Iowa

The former Minnesota Governor really never was in the race.

Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, dropped his bid for the Republican nomination for president on Sunday morning, saying his disappointing performance in Iowa’s straw poll convinced him that his campaign had run its course.

Just hours after his third-place finish in Iowa, Mr. Pawlenty said on ABC’s “This Week” program that his message “didn’t get the kind of traction we needed and hoped for” in order to continue.

“There are a lot of other choices in the race,” he said. “The audience, so to speak, was looking for something different.”

Mr. Pawlenty informed his supporters on a conference call Sunday morning before his television appearance that he was ending his candidacy. He thanked his supporters in the call, two participants said, but acknowledged that he had decided overnight that his candidacy could not proceed.

Just NO gravitas as a leader.

The race is now between Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry.