I’ve never met Tim Pawlenty. I’ve never met anyone who actively supported his presidential bid. I’ve never been to Minnesota except for a layover en route to Fargo in the winter for a deposition and I’ve never been to Iowa. But I was saddened (certainly not surprised) to learn this morning that Mr. Pawlenty dropped out of the Republican primary race. Tim had two major strikes against him. He wasn’t cool, and he wasn’t polarizing. Rumor has it Mr. Pawlenty is a gifted politician — he served two terms as the Republican governor of a consistently blue state. Reporters said he was great pounding the flesh in small groups and immediately likeable on the campaign trail (if you actually met him). On television he appeared stiff and nerdy, but this is no Kennedy/Nixon analogy.

Second, no one hated him. Sure people disagreed with some of his political positions (and Ms. Bachmann did her best to criticize his record as governor during last week’s debate). But did Tim Pawlenty have any negatives? Can you name two people in the Republican party who were irked by his very presence?

Virtually every GOP candidate (and in the interest of full disclosure you should know I’m a Republican), has serious negatives. Bachmann’s social conservatism is a turn off for all Democrats and for at least a third of Republicans, Romney’s Romney-care is too close to Obama’s Obama-care for many, Herman Cain has no political record and Newt Gingrich has too much of one. There are some Republicans who hate the remaining candidates — no one hates Tim Pawlenty.

Tim Pawlenty represents the silent majority of Americans who will never put their name on a ballot because they’re too busy living their lives, taking care of their families, making money and making friends. He made his campaign about him and the American people when most candidates make their campaigns about the other guy. The GOP primary is about to turn very, very ugly.