Pawlenty says trade trip kept him off straw poll
The Values Voter Summit is underway in Washington D.C.
A long list of well-known conservatives and some GOP presidential hopefuls are speaking there, but Gov. Tim Pawlenty is not among them.
In a telephone conference call from Tokyo Pawlenty called the Values Voter Summit'an "important group," and noted that he's addressed the summit before. He said he took his name out of the summit's presidential straw poll this time because he was unable to be there in person.
"We certainly appreciate the Values Voter Summit, but I wasn't able to be there because of the trade mission," he said. "And because I was unable to be there, we didn't think it would be appropriate to participate otherwise in the event. So it's fairly straight forward in that regard."
Rep. Michele Bachmann spoke at the summit today.
Bachmann's name is included in the presidential straw poll.
Update: AP reports that Bachmann requested her name be taken off the straw poll, and she will not be included.
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