Tim Pawlenty ends presidential campaign

New York— Tim Pawlenty, the former governor of Minnesota, will end his bid for the GOP nomination after a disapppointing third place finish in the Ames Iowa Straw Poll.


In a conference call with supporters, Pawlenty explained how his campaign needed a boost in the Ames poll, which it had failed to get.


Pawlenty finished a distant third, behind Reps. Michele Bachman and Ron Paul of Texas.


Pawlenty had pitched his canidacy as the one which could unite the GOP's different conservative streams.


But the strategy left him witout a clear base of support.


Pawlenty informed his supporters in a conference call and then announced his decision on ABC's This Week. He finished a distant third in yesterday's Iowa presidential straw poll, well behind the winner, Rep. Michele Bachmann, his Minnesota rival.


"We needed to get some lift to continue on and have a pathway forward," Pawlenty told ABC. "That didn't happen, so I'm announcing this morning on your show that I'm going to be ending my campaign for president."


The surprise decision by Pawlenty, who made John McCain's short list of vice presidential picks in 2008, was first reported by Politico.


Pawlenty received 14% of the vote in the Iowa straw poll -- well behind Bachmann, a third-term lawmaker and founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, who received nearly 29%. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, finished second with 28%.


Throughout the year, Pawlenty struggled to gain traction despite being widely touted as a possible alternative to Mitt Romney, the current front-runner for the GOP nomination.


Pawlenty spent months campaigning and building an organization in Iowa, home to the nation's first presidential caucuses, but had trouble catching fire. He was polling in the single digits both in the Hawkeye State and nationally.


He had emphasized his record as a two-term governor in a Democratic state, as a contrast to Bachmann and her experience. Pawlenty also sought to contrast himself with Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, on the issue of health care, pointing out that he signed a market-based law in Minnesota. He had derided the law enacted under Romney as "Obamneycare."


While the Iowa straw poll is not a reliable indicator of who will win the state's presidential caucuses or the GOP nomination, it is a test of organization. Pawlenty last night had congratulated Bachmann, but conceded he had a lot of work to do to win the nomination.


Bachmann's momentum, however, is tempered somewhat by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who formally joined the race on Saturday with a speech in South Carolina. Perry and Bachmann both appeal to social conservatives and the Tea Party movement, and are ideologically to the political right of Romney.