A new poll of Minnesota by St. Cloud State University finds that Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential Republican candidate for president in 2012, would lose his Democratic-leaning home state to President Obama if the election were held today.
The numbers: Obama 49%, Pawlenty 40%, with a ±5% margin of error.
In 2008, Obama beat John McCain in Minnesota by 54%-44%. As the Star-Tribune notes, Pawlenty received less than 50% of the vote in each of his two elections as governor. He won 44% of the vote in a three-way race in 2002, and in 2006 he narrowly edged out his Democratic opponent by a 47%-46% margin.
