Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty (R) is giving up his bid for the presidency of the United States, just one day after placing third in the (largely meaningless) Ames Straw Poll.

Pawlenty, who served two terms as governor of Minnesota, had previously hinted that a poor showing in Ames could lead to a reassessment of his campaign.

Well, apparently third place wasn’t strong enough to continue. Not alongside the way he’s polling nationally. He’s just not in a financial position to continue.

Update: Here we go. Pawlenty notified his staff of the decision this morning.

“We needed a boost from Ames that didn’t happen,” he said. He’ll formally announce the end of his campaign on television today.

This also helps to explain why he canceled a planned appearance on Mike Huckabee’s show last night. There was no reason to appear and pretend like everything was fine.