Esme's Blog: Pawlenty and Bachmann Tied For 6th
Today the CPAC straw poll was released. A prominent gathering of conservatives, it's the first significant poll gauging Republican hopefuls for the 2012 Presidential nomination.
Yes, it's ridiculously early, but I have to wonder how former Gov. Tim Pawlenty feels. After working for two years on a not-so-transparent bid for the White House, after numerous trips to Iowa, after being Governor of Iowa's neighbor to the north for eight years, he gets 4 percent of the straw poll vote.
And so did Rep. Michele Bachmann.
The two Minnesotans are tied for sixth.
Granted Sarah Palin finished even lower with 3 percent of the vote. (For the second year in a row Ron Paul won, this time with 30 percent and Mitt Romney came in second with 23 percent.)
The question is -- is Pawlenty's 4 percent showing diminished because of Bachmann's 4 percent showing? After all, she first expressed interest in the race just weeks ago.
Pawlenty, according to one New York Times analysis,, is positioned almost perfectly in the center of the Republican hopefuls.
But he has to be wondering where he would be if Michele Bachmann hadn't suddenly crashed the party.
