ST. PAUL, Minn., Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he's had second thoughts about his decision to drop out of the presidential race.
Pawlenty, a Republican, said after unveiling his official gubernatorial portrait Monday that he had dropped out of the race after a poor showing in the August straw poll in Ames, Iowa, because "we were out of money," the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
Since then, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, who won the Ames straw poll, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who had a short burst to the front of the GOP pack, have fallen precipitously in polling numbers, while former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and N.J. Gov. Chris Christie have decided not to get in the fray.
Pawlenty said if he had known what would happen in the race, he would have put aside enough cash to keep his campaign going.
But the campaign spent all it had in its coffers and then some, leaving it in debt, on the Iowa race.
"That's a decision we made and it was the wrong call," Pawlenty said.
