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Pawlenty Drops Out of Race for GOP Nomination

An Iowa straw broke the campaign’s back. From AFP:



Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty announced on Sunday he is dropping out of the Republican presidential contest, after a distant third place finish in a key test vote.

Pawlenty made the announcement after finishing with 2,293 votes Saturday in Iowa’s Ames Straw Poll — seen as a key indicator of who will fare well in early nominating contests next year — over 2,500 votes behind winner Representative Michele Bachmann and second place finisher Ron Paul.

The Pawlenty campaign, officially launched in May, “didn’t get the kind of traction and lift we had hoped coming out of the straw poll,” he told ABC’s “This Week.”

“I’m announcing on your show that I am ending my campaign for the presidency.”

The low-key Pawlenty — derided by detractors as bland and uncharismatic — is little known outside of his home state. He had hoped to position himself as a fiscal conservative who will shake up Washington.

US media said Pawlenty, who had been considering a presidential run for years, had thanked his supporters in an early-morning call, saying he had decided to leave the 2012 race overnight. He has not indicated whether he might endorse another candidate.

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