Tim Pawlenty announced an end to his presidential candidacy Sunday after what he called a "disappointing" third place finish in the Ames, Iowa, straw poll.

The former Minnesota governor said he had hoped to get a jolt from the preference poll that is an early indicator of a candidate's potential strength in the primary season.

"I'm ending my campaign for president," Pawlenty told ABC's "This Week," noting that he wished the scenario had been different but voters were looking for something else.


The message Pawlenty was offering "didn't get the kind of traction or lift that we needed and hoped for coming into the and out of the Ames straw poll. We needed to get some lift to continue on and to have a pathway forward. That didn't happen," he said.

"Obviously, we had some success raising money, but we needed to continue that, and Ames was a benchmark for that. And if we didn't do well in Ames, we weren't going to have the fuel to keep the car going down the road," he added.

Pawlenty received 13 percent of the vote in the Saturday poll, which is not generally a marker of the future presidential nominee. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann received 28 percent of the nearly 17,000 votes cast followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who earned 27 percent. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum earned 9 percent and businessman Herman Cain received 8 percent.

But Pawlenty, who had relied on organizational strength and popularity in the lead-off caucuses state, has struggled to gain traction in Iowa, where he and Bachmann, who was born in the state, have conducted a surly back-and-forth.

After his third-place finish, Pawlenty issued a statement saying that he merely needed to show progress, and had achieved that goal.

"We are now moving onto the next phase of our campaign. Over the coming weeks we will be visiting New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida while continuing to grow our already strong ground game in Iowa," Pawlenty said.

But a senior adviser told Fox News that during a Sunday morning conference call, Pawlenty told supporters, "We cannot envision a path forward to victory and so therefore, we made a decision to end the campaign."

The winner of the Republican presidential nomination will face President Obama in the 2012 election.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/08/14/pawlenty-to-drop-gop-presidential-bid/#ixzz1V1JT26zz

Well if he gives up that easy its better he doesn't continue. Now if Bachman, Santorum, Romney and that guy from Utah will quit that'd make me feel better about things!

GO GO Michelle!!

I'm waiting for future debates to see what this guy from Texas is about, but as it stands now I'm thinking Cain or Paul!

Ron Paul FTW!!

Pawlenty isn't nearly goofy, reality-detatched or crazy enough for today's right-wing. Iowa showed us where that mentality is at. That awesome Michelle Bachman is just perfect for the Republican nomination.

I was rally pushing for Bachmann until Perry jumped in the race. I want Perry to get it and Bachmann in the VP slot!

Looney Ron Paul doesn't stand a chance in hell!(Thank God!!!!!!!!)

All you will get with them is lower taxes for megacorps while ignoring the middle class and small businesses, laws passed to allow said corps to run amuck, completely gut the EPA and in general have business as usual. Need someone who isn't a filthy politician, and both of them are just that!

Yeah cause someone who went on record to say God will judge America if we don't support Israel is a good candidate for VP........no thanks. I'd rather religion and politics to be separate thank you very much. Perry is as bad as well to this end.

double post

While I don't know that I fully trust Paul, I know he has more balls than most of the politicians out there going where they won't. But given that he'll never get a chance I am sure because the media will do all they can to discredit him. They've done it before.

Iowa means little on the Republican side. Whoever is the moralist choice, wins. That is why people that have more to offer than just pandering to the religious vote don't bother to contest the state.

I laugh each time I read the title of this thread.

Must have been that very flattering image of Michelle on Newsweek that did the trick.

Ron Paul 2012!