And Then There Were…

On the morning after the Iowa Straw Poll Tim Pawlenty has bowed out of the presidential race. The candidate for the presidency finished in third place in the poll behind Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

In a field of ten candidates plus a place for “other” candidates the results were as follows:

Michele Bachmann             28.65%    4823 votes

Ron Paul                              27.74%    4671 votes

Tim Pawlenty                      13.62%     2293 votes

Rick Santorum                     9.84%      1657 votes

Herman Cain                       8.65%      1456 votes

Rick Perry                            4.26%      567 votes

Mitt Romney                         3.37%      567 votes

Newt Gingrich                      2.29%      385 votes

Other                                    0.96%      162 votes

Jon Huntsman                     0.41%      69 votes

Thad McCotter                    0.21%      35 votes

With Tim Pawlenty out of the race, that leaves nine named candidates from this poll. There are quite a few others that have thrown their hats into the ring, but they aren’t worth considering. They are the fringe element and maybe just seeking publicity and a story they may one day tell their grandchildren.

Out of the nine remaining, three others should stop wasting their time, money and resources: Thad McCotter, Jon Huntsman, and Newt Gingrich.  The first two couldn’t even get a half of a percent of the voters to cast their votes for them. The third is the interesting one. Newt Gingrich has experience to spare. However, he came off as just a grumpy old man in the debate leading up to the poll. He seemed to be angry to be there, angry to have to answer questions and miffed with his competition. And let’s not forget that his campaign has been a train wreck with his staffers quitting en mass then another mass exodus of his fund raising team. With these three and Tim Pawlenty out of the race we will start to get a clearer picture of what is in store for us.

One thing of note here is the fact that Rick Perry had not yet declared himself a candidate and still placed sixth in front of Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. In a less than gentlemanly way Rick Perry announced his candidacy on the same day that Michele Bachmann was pronounced the winner of the Iowa Straw Poll. He should have been gracious and let Michele Bachmann have her day.

Bachmann – Rubio in 2012?

It is going to be a wild ride for the next few months.

Hugo