Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty posted on Facebook that he’s formed an exploratory committee to see about running for the GOP nomination in 2012.

In other Facebook news, a friend of mine has some adorable puppies up for adoption.

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Mr. Pawlenty, who can’t even muster support from voters in his own state, will be the first candidate to drop out. Steve Benen, on the other hand, thinks that in spite the fact that “Pawlenty has a very thin record for a two-term governor; he isn’t well liked in his own state; he was a moderate who’s now dressing up in right-wing clothing; he has no meaningful areas of expertise in any subject; and he’s even begun pretending to have a Southern accent as part of a bizarre effort to appear folksy,” he has a chance to win the nomination because the rest of the field — consisting now of Newt Gingrich and pizza executive Herman Cain — will be that much worse.

Well, when you set the standards that high, I concede that Steve might have a point. But I think if he is the nominee, he’ll make Fred Thompson look like a rock star.