Poll: Straight-arrow Pawlenty still flying under 2012 radar among GOP voters

Tim Pawlenty travels the country, speaking to whoever will invite him about the GOP’s future and other topics. He’s refrained from announcing any extramarital affairs or his impending resignation. But the Minnesota governor’s support as a 2012 presidential prospect among Republicans nationally remains low, according to a new Gallup Poll.

A straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference last February made it clear Pawlenty wasn’t at the top of the 2012 heap despite his status as the leading 2008 vice-presidential also-ran on the GOP ticket. He placed ninth out of 10.

Then in a Rasmussen survery last week, Pawlenty was the choice of only 1 percent, tied with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour. Today, the Gallup Poll puts Pawlenty 1 percentage point up on Barbour (3 percent to 2 percent).

In both recent polls, the two current governors trail four leading lights, all of whom have “former” attached to their names: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, soon-to-be former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Pawlenty can only hope that some of Gingrich’s fourth-place magic rubbed off last night when they made a joint appearance at a University of Minnesota health-care forum.