After a disappointing third place finish in the Iowa Straw Poll on Saturday, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced that he was giving up his bid for the White House, becoming the first real casualty of the 2012 race for the White House.

"I'm going to be ending my campaign for president," Pawlenty said on ABC's "This Week."

It was a surprise ending to what had been a campaign that just never gained traction with the voters.

Two months ago, it didn't seem to be going the wrong way for Pawlenty.   I saw him on a damp evening in June in New Hampshire, where he lit up an Irish bar packed with voters in Derry.

Pawlenty had clearly made some headway in terms of organization, as there were a number of Republican Party officials from the area who were there that night.

As I said at the time, it seemed like a rally just days before the New Hampshire Primary, instead of an event a day before a GOP debate in June of an odd-numbered year.

Earlier that day, Pawlenty had linked President Obama and GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney on the health care issue, labeling their plans as "Obamney Care."  It seemed like a line that could work against the former Massachusetts Governor.

But the next day at the debate in Manchester, Pawlenty was given the chance to attack Romney in person over health care reform - and Pawlenty flinched.

He didn't just swing and miss on the opportunity to criticize Romney, as Pawlenty stood there like the house on the side of the road and watched the pitch go by.

I remember the feeling in the press room that night was that Pawlenty had made a major error, and in hindsight, it may really have been the beginning of the end.

Instead of Pawlenty leaving that June GOP debate with momentum, it was Michele Bachmann who suddenly emerged from the pack of Republican candidates.

It was obvious where Pawlenty stood in his own mind last week, as in the GOP debate in Iowa, Pawlenty went on the attack and tangled straight away with Bachmann, who seemed to come out of that scrap for the better.

And when Bachmann doubled Pawlenty's vote total in the Iowa Straw Poll, the writing was on the wall for the former Minnesota Governor.

One former Governor out of the race, and one current Governor in, as now Rick Perry gets his chance to become the alternative to Mitt Romney.