Pawlenty's war chest left with a hefty load of IOUs

WASHINGTON - When former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty ended his two-year quest for the White House in August, he said he had simply run out of money.

Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday confirm that assessment, showing his campaign nearly a half-million dollars in debt.

A Pawlenty aide called the debt something of a surprise.

"The campaign debt was unanticipated but we have been doing what we can to address it," said Pawlenty adviser Brian McClung.

Figures filed with the FEC, the first since Pawlenty called it quits Aug. 14, show campaign debts of $453,842, with $20,173 cash on hand.

The campaign still needs to pay back more than 50 debts on everything from staff travel to consulting and rent.

The largest debt is to Strategic Fundraising Inc., a Chicago-based company the campaign still owes $69,000 for fundraising calls. The campaign also owes more than $50,000 in rent in Urbandale, Iowa.

Musser and a half-dozen other top aides were said to be working for little or no money during the campaign, an early sign of money troubles. But Musser's firm collected at least $131,000 between November 2009 and March 2011 from Freedom First PAC, Pawlenty's political organization, and from Pawlenty's presidential exploratory committee.

Pawlenty put none of his own money into the campaign, though he earned some $593,000 over the past year in speaking fees and royalties from his campaign autobiography, "Courage to Stand."

The end, for Pawlenty, came the morning after a disappointing third-place finish in the Iowa GOP straw poll in Ames. Minnesota rival Michele Bachmann finished first, followed closely by libertarian maverick Ron Paul.

Pawlenty had bet everything on a strong showing in Iowa, where he devoted an estimated $1 million in campaign resources to win the straw poll and the momentum that was thought to go with it.

Though not all devoted to the straw poll, the campaign spent most of its money on media, plunking down more than $465,000 with Encino, Calif.,-based Target Enterprises, FEC records show. His payroll costs totaled $254,000, and travel topped $156,000.

Pawlenty also spent $7,500 at the straw poll on the band Sonic Flood, and $26,750 on catering from Famous Dave's BBQ, according to his FEC report.

Despite Pawlenty's bruising Iowa finish, Bachmann has since failed to capitalize on her victory, something that has since caused Pawlenty to second-guess his decision to drop out so soon.

On Monday, at the unveiling of his official portrait in the State Capitol, the 50-year-old ex-governor said that had he known what the race would become, he would have saved some cash to carry on. Instead, the campaign went for broke in Iowa.

"It was the wrong call," he said.

But Pawlenty's latest FEC report also shows tepid fundraising of less than $1 million from July through September. A little less than $123,000 of that was raised after he announced his decision to quit.

Strapped for cash, Pawlenty has tried unsuccessfully to get his $25,000 primary filing fee refunded from South Carolina's Republican Party, which required the payment to get a spot in the first GOP debate, held in Greenville.