Looks like Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has finally bitten the bullet and has submitted papers to register a PAC—usually the first step in any presidential bid—thus ending the most predictable speculation in the 2012 race so far. Pawlenty will call his PAC Freedom First, continuing the GOP trend of corny freedom-themed PAC names. (Mitt Romney's is called Free and Strong America.) Over at Politico, J-Mart reports that Pawlenty has been quietly collecting high-profile campaign staff and supporters, including Vin Weber to co-chair his campaign. Weber, a former Minnesota congressman and a prominent GOP player, threw his weight behind Romney in 2008. Pawlenty has wrapped up a few other big names from the 2008 cycle, including RNC communications director Alex Conant and McCain campaign manager Terry Nelson, who will be big assets to his bid.

Gallup has released the results of a survey about potential GOP 2012 nominees, and it contains much good news for Mitt Romney fans. Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, the former Massachusetts governor just beats out Sarah Palin in the preferred-nominee stakes (26%-21%), with Mike Huckabee coming in third (19%), followed by Newt Gingrich (14%). Two sitting governors whom pundits consider strong contenders─Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty and Mississippi's Haley Barbour─both polled poorly, but that's likely due to their low name recognition outside the Beltway.

The other good news for Romney is that his unfavorable rating among all voters has dropped substantially since he exited last year's presidential race. Back then, his unfavorables far outweighed his favorability: 46% to 34%. In this latest poll, that dynamic has flipped, with 37% of respondents viewing Romney favorably and 29% unfavorably. That's a 17-point drop in his unfavorables. However, the number of people expressing "no opinion" about Romney has increased. This could cut either way, but fortunately for him, he's got three years to win them over. 

There's good news for Palin, too: her resignation doesn't appear to have altered her overall favorability ratings, which seem largely unchanged since the election. The country remains divided about her, with 43% viewing her favorably and 45% unfavorably. The only group that appears to have been affected by the resignation is Republicans. Her unfavorability among GOPers has risen, but she's still overwhelmingly popular with them: 72% view her favorably. You can read the full results here.

The poll illustrates an interesting disconnect, and one that should be of concern to the Palin camp. She's clearly the most popular figure in the Republican Party, yet Republicans aren't sure they want her as president. Does she need more time to learn her craft? Maybe Republicans are satisfied just to have her voice in the party, but don't see her leading it. Maybe GOPers would prefer to see her on TV than in the Oval Office. What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments and I'll respond later today.

End of the Trail: Brownback. Photo: Brendan Smialowski / Getty Images

And then there were nine. On Friday, Sam Brownback will drop his bid for the GOP presidential nomination. The Kansas senator, while popular with the conservative base of the party, never seemed to catch fire in the polls. Yet that’s not the reason he’s quitting. A source close to Brownback, who declined to speak on the record because the senator has yet to announce his intentions publicly, says the decision is purely about the money--that is, his lack of it. Brownback raised just $4.2 million during the first nine months of the campaign and blew through most of it, ending the third-quarter with just under $95,000 in the bank. (Interestingly, that’s about how much John McCain has to spend in the primary, when you figure in his campaign’s debts.)

Where did the money go? Well, for one thing, Brownback bet the farm on Iowa. According to his latest campaign reports, he spent at least $300,000 on the Ames Straw Poll--not including the potentially thousands of dollars more the senator spent on “get out the vote” efforts related to the event that were not clearly identified among his expenditures. According to his Federal Election Commission filing, Brownback spent $128,900 on straw poll tickets alone--which, at $35 a pop means he bought more than 3600 tickets. Yet Brownback got just 2,192 votes that day, coming in third, so that means he likely paid for someone to vote for another candidate. Bummer. He spent nearly $20,000 on buses to bring his would-be supporters to Ames.

It's not easy being on a diet when you're at the Iowa State Fair. Just ask Mike Huckabee. The former Arkansas governor dropped more than 200 pounds before he jumped in the race for the GOP presidential nomination. On Friday, he gave a speech at the fair in a last-minute attempt to woo voters on the eve of the Ames Straw Poll. Going to the Iowa fair is considered a right of passage for anyone with White House ambitions. Ditto for testing out the food, which includes everything from funnel cakes to deep fried pickles. How can Huckabee, now a healthy heart evangelist, resist all the transfat temptations? Huckabee admits it's tough going, but says he plans to follow a basic rule. "If it wasn't a food 100 years ago, it's not a food today," he told your Gaggler. In other words, corn dogs are out. "We'll let you have that," he said. (Thanks, but we've already had two.) All around us, the air was thick with the soul satisfying aroma of artery hardening treats. But Huckabee, like any wartime Commander in Chief In Waiting, stayed the course. "I saw the Fried Twinkie booth over there. he said with firm resolve. "You aren't going to see me in that line." He also vetoed some of the fair's more exotic offerings, including the potato lollypop--"Potato what?" he said, and waved it away.

Huckabee's fortitude is, on the one hand, admirable. But for voters in Iowa, it may also hint at a troubling, Bush-like stubborn streak--a refusal to admit when he's wrong and make course corrections when the facts on the ground demand them. Case in point: Huckabee, who proclaims himself a patriot, outright refused even a single forkful of the fair's proudest culinary achievement: the sublime Hot Beef Sundae. This siren song of mashed potatoes smothered with chipped beef, cheese and gravy is so deeply, Americanly delicious that just one bite is enough to make all who taste it place their hands on their hearts and spontaneously recite the National Anthem. Yet Huckabee was unmoved by its obvious appeal. "You've got to be kidding me," he said incredulously when your Gaggler tried to tempt him. "My gosh. Even in my fattest days, that doesn't appeal to me." So sad. But then, perhaps sensing that Republican straw poll voters might think twice about the bona fides of a candidate who goes to a fair and orders salad, Huckabee went off in search of manly fare that wouldn't betray his principals. "I'm looking for meat," he said. "A pork chop. That's something good and decent."