Ex-Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty ends White House bid

[highplainsdem]

Source: AP

By BRIAN BAKST

The Associated Press


ST. PAUL, Minn. —

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

Pawlenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday morning that he would announce on ABC's "This Week" that he was ending his campaign after a disappointing finish in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday.

The poll was a test of organizational strength and popularity in the state whose caucuses lead off the GOP nomination fight.

Pawlenty had struggled to gain traction in Iowa, a state he had said he must win, after laying the groundwork for a campaign for nearly two years.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.1340wgau.com/news/ap/general/pawlenty-vows-to-continue-despite-3rd-place-finish/nDH3B/

---

Editing to add the AP link and headline. I heard this first on Fox News, but they don't have a story up yet and their source was AP.

[rurallib]

1. will anyone notice?

[xchrom]

2. who? nt

[liberal N proud]

3. One less clown in the car

[Bluzmann57]

4. What?!

A semi-sane repuke quitting? The field just got loonier than before, and that's saying something.

[BeyondGeography]

5. That was fast

[underpants]

8. WHAT? WOW!

Man this was an eye opener

[oberliner]

Ex-Minn. Gov. Tim Pawlenty Ends White House Bid

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination.

Pawlenty told supporters on a conference call Sunday morning that he would announce on ABC's "This Week" that he was ending his campaign after a disappointing finish in the Iowa straw poll on Saturday.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=14301292

[maddezmom]

7. AP must've not have the inside scoop: Pawlenty vows to continue despite 3rd place finish

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/pawlenty-vows-to-continue-1107797.html
August 14, 2011 08:41 AM EDT

[highplainsdem]

9. The link you posted there has just changed to the new story about Pawlenty dropping out.

The latest news is based on his conference call this morning.

[oberliner]

10. AJC has updated the story - their headline now matches the Pawlenty drops out one

Incidentally, both stories were by the same AP reporter.

[polichick]

6. He tried to be as nutty as the others and it didn't pay off. Take a bow fake T-Paw!

[tanyev]

11. Farewell, Yawnplenty. We hardly knew ye.

[underpants]

14. Bachmann 4823, Paul 4671, Pawlenty 2293, Santorum 1657, Cain 1456, Perry 718, Romney 567

He cam in third. He must have inside polling that tells him to get out and most importanly he knows what his money situation is.

Maybe he bows out now to come back as VP. :shrug:

[Joe Bacon]

26. No, Marco Rubio has the VP slot locked up.

I'm just waiting for Tiny TIm to take over the Billy Mays roles on infomercials.

[BE10sCoach]

12. Pawlenty

Who cares!

[No Elephants]

13. No worries. With his charisma, he'll do just fine.

T Pity.

[underpants]

15. Wow is Bachmann taking a victory lap on the news shows today or WHAT?

she wins and the guy she went head-to-head with drops out.

[hayrow]

16. Fast resolution to the Pawlenty/Bachmann war

With Pawlenty surrendering, who will be the next victim to attempt to take on Michele the Blessed?

[BumRushDaShow]

17. K&R

:rofl:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. Palin - Pawlenty 2012: "Two Quitters, No Waiting."

:rofl:

And he was doing SO WELL. Tragic.

[dmosh42]

19. He forgot the GW Bush playbook, where you play on the religious wackos!

[No Elephants]

44. How can he compete with someone who raised that many foster kids to love God and whose DH converts

gays?

Merely being anti-abortion is just not going to cut it. Plus, T Paw can't compete with the "Bachman is the next best thing to Sarah" contingent.

[stopbush]

48. ??? Did you listen to Pawlenty? He was just as big a religious wacko as the others.

I'm glad he's out. I guess god didn't want him to be the nominee. What an asshole.

[Betty]

20. He couldn't get enough right wing fundie

Tea bagger votes....but in the end, getting that group's vote doesn't translate to a general election win, at least I hope it doesn't. Why does the opinion of such a tiny minority hold so much power over these repugs?

[Historic NY]

21. Ouch that door hurt...next

[Yon_Yonson]

22. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out!

:hurts:

[jimbo3]

23. Well......bye.

nt

[elocs]

27. "I want you to know it's over.'' "Well.... bye."

http://youtu.be/ReYfu5E-hOE

[onehandle]

24. It wasn't the poll, it was his lack of money. The nominee got less than 1000 votes. nt

[rasputin1952]

25. One less egg to fry...

:D

[FarLeftFist]

28. Looks like Tim has Pawlenty of free time now.

[dipsydoodle]

29. That was a Pawlenty - cue the music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kisV-Q0Uv9U

[Bosso 63]

30. Perhaps Tim finally realized that he sucks.

After enduring 8 years of his ego driven Governorship in Minnesota, I'm very happy to see this little thin skinned prick get a humiliating comeuppance. T-paw became a Right-wing ideologue out of political convenience. He trashed our State so he could get "street cred" with the Tea baggers, but even those whack-jobs could see him for the little weasel that he is as he tried to fake it.
So I give the Iowa republicans a little credit for looking into the crazy eyes of Bachmann and recognizing her as a "true" fellow traveler in their collective delusional quest to push our Nation back into the Middle Ages, and that T-paw just sucks.

[scarletwoman]

33. Excellent summary! Yeah, it was way too obvious that he reeked of phony.

I hope he fades away into well-deserved obscurity.

:hi: from a fellow Minnesotan,
sw

[LuckyLib]

52. +1000! The country is done with you now, Timmy. Minnesota has been for a long while!

[SomeGuyInEagan]

57. I see they see my old neighbor Timmy for the douchebag he really is.

Nice summary, Bosso 63.

[scarletwoman]

31. Poor Pawlenty. He spent most of his last two years as governor barely in MN, he was so busy running

around Iowa and New Hampshire desperately trying to ingratiate himself with the GOP big money guys, and all for naught.

He actually started out as semi-sane, back in his first term as governor. Talked about climate change, alternative energy, protecting our resources - although he was always totally in the bag for the no taxes thing (he called new taxes "fees" instead :eyes: ).

But once he got the notion to run for president, he moved further and further right, suddenly got religion, and strove mightily to cultivate his inner crazy in hopes of getting national attention and repug approval.

It was never going to work. It was like watching a chihuahua trying to pass himself off as a wolf. Sorry, Tim, you'll never be more than an annoying little yapper.

sw (a Minnesotan)

[AllyCat]

32. Oh gosh, that's just too bad. Which reject will go next? There are so many from which to choose

[beac]

34. So long, Yawnplenty. We hardly knew ye... nor wanted to. n/t

[Zoeisright]

35. HOOOORRRAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!

That is incredibly fabulous news. I've hated that cross-eyed little weasel for YEARS. Couldn't be happier!!

[Doc Holliday]

36. So...Pawlenty's out.

With the entrance of Perry and the exit of Pawlenty, it is now officially a race to the bottom.

I guess ol' Tim just wasn't batshit-crazy enough for the GOP base.

[gauguin57]

37. I don't understand why folks feel like they have to drop out after a STRAW POLL, for god's sake.

Who cares about a straw poll (except the TV political reporters who have been waiting for ANY ELECTION AT ALL to obsess over!)

Didn't McCain place, like 10th in the Iowa Straw Poll, and then go on to get the nomination?

Pat Robertson won the Straw Poll in 1987!

Pawlenty must be broke.

[customerserviceguy]

42. He wasn't getting any traction from anybody

besides the lamestream media, who thought he was "sane", at least judged in comparison to other Republicons. He bet all of his chips on a big splash out of Ames, and he lost. If Bachmann had self-imploded in the New Hampshire debate, he might have had a chance, or if Perry had tossed his hat in the ring a bit earlier, taking the luster off of Bachmann for the fundies, he might have also prevailed.

As I recall correctly, Elizabeth Dole knew it was over after the Ames straw poll twelve years ago, too.

[iamthebandfanman]

38. wow, what a coward...

coulda atleast waited until the first ACTUAL REAL vote...

everybody knows the straw poll doesnt mean jack

[BadtotheboneBob]

39. Watching Iowa's GOP Governor Branstad I noticed...

... just how much he resembles Heinrich Himmler... Creepy...

[coalition_unwilling]

46. LOL - beware of Godwin's law, but I hear you! :) - n/t

[BadtotheboneBob]

51. Thanks... I was unaware of such a 'Law'...

... But, in my defense, I merely said that he physically resembled the aforementioned person and not that he actually acted and/or possessed any of that person's moral characteristics/attributes etc etc... Whew!

[coalition_unwilling]

54. Tee-hee-hee. I personally think Branstad's appearance reflects

his inner attributes, so as soon as you mentioned the uncanny resemblance I had to invoke Godwin's law on myself :)

[BadtotheboneBob]

59. Well. being a relative 'Newbie', I shall observe the 'Law'...

... at least in posted word, however, I expressly reserve the right to ignore it within my head. I defy the 'Thought Police' as often as possible! p.s I bookmarked your blog and shall peruse it at my leisure. I may even comment, as is my wont! Thanks...

[jwirr]

40. Good.

[customerserviceguy]

41. He thought

he could parlay getting the 2008 Repuke convention to Minnesota into a Presidential nomination.

Just doesn't work that way, Mr. Excitement.

[and-justice-for-all]

43. He is pathetic...nt

as is all repuke candidates.

[tropicanarose]

45. He was one of the more formidable candidates too. What a crock...Michelle Bachmann, Ron Paul.......d

Obviously I would never vote for any of them, but it shows how extreme the Republican Party has become when someone who actually has some decent credentials as Pawlenty is withdrawing from the race.
This is good news for Obama, I think. There isn't a single Republican candidate that could really beat him.

[coalition_unwilling]

47. I breathed a real sigh of relief when Huckabee withdrew, b/c

I thought he would have been the most formidable Repuke in the general election.

Romney will defeat Obama if he (Romney) gets the nomination and if the unemployment rate reaches 10%. Currently at 9.1%

[RamboLiberal]

50. I still worry about MSM painting Perry as a jobs creator

And a bit about Rodney. Plus the Damn electoral college scares the hell out of me. Especially with R's running some purple states.

[Downwinder]

49. Did he leave any staffers in Iowa jails?

[Dark]

53. So, Romney has no competition?

The far right will eat themselves over all the candidates teabagging them, and Romney will come out on top.

/edit: grammar

[JI7]

55. who ?

[MissMillie]

56. It's odd to me

I get that the process means that the GOP has to elect a nominee... but are they really going to elect a nominee that leaves a bad taste in the mouth of 70% of the voters?


If so... then, bring it on.

[HughBeaumont]

58. Pawlenty of boredom must have realized his bridge-building skills needed work.