Pawlenty trails potential GOP presidential field

Gov. Tim Pawlenty is certainly trying to gin up support for a 2012 presidential bid. Since announcing that he would not seek a third term, the lame-duck governor has been crisscrossing the country speaking to the Republican faithful. On Monday evening he was on Fox News chatting with Greta Van Susteren. But while the Drudge Report may no longer find it necessary to identify T-Paw to readers, there’s little evidence that he’s making much headway in establishing broad name recognition and support with potential Republican primary voters.

A new Marist Poll puts Pawlenty at the back of the pack of likely 2012 GOP contenders. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led the field with support from 21 percent of those polled, while just trailing were former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (20 percent) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (19 percent). Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich drew support from 10 percent of those surveyed, while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was the top pick of five percent of respondents. Pawlenty’s draw: just one percent.