Just breaking this morning, former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty has announced he will suspend his campaign after the third place finish in the Ames Straw Poll. Pawlenty made the announcement this morning ABC’s This Week program. Here is the entire interview from earlier this morning:
Report from SFGate.com:
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 really exist so we are going to end the campaign,” Pawlenty said on ABC’s “This Week” from Iowa shortly after disclosing his plans in a private conference call with supporters.
The low-key Midwesterner and two-term governor had struggled to gain traction in a state he had said he must win and never caught fire nationally with a Republican electorate seemingly craving a charismatic, nonestablishment, rabble-rouser to go up against President Barack Obama.
Pawlenty tried to turn up the heat on Obama and his GOP rivals. But it often came across unnatural and he never was able stoked the passions of voters.
We’ll have the video of Pawlenty’s announcement later today along with more fallout.
