Pawlenty: Romney is the Frontrunner

Politico reports:

Tim Pawlenty’s been reading the polls, too. He knows Mitt Romney’s far ahead of him and the rest of the 2012 GOP field.

“I’ll acknowledge Mitt is going to be the front-runner to start because of his name ID, legacy, financial infrastructure from last time and his personal wealth,” the former Minnesota governor said Wednesday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “However, we’re interested not in how we’re doing in national polls, where only half the people in the poll know my name. We’re more interested over time how we’re doing in the early states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina to start.”

Recent polls bear out Romney’s spot at the front of the Republican pack. Three separate surveys released Tuesday show Rommey ahead both nationally and in South Carolina, as well as gaining more “positive intensity” among voters familiar with him.

“We’ll acknowledge he’s the front runner for now, but those early polls usually don’t predict the final outcome,” Pawlenty said.