Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who has been flirting with a 2012 presidential bid for most of his second term, finally has pulled ahead of the GOP competition in the race for president–at least in his home state. The results appear slightly underwhelming, however. He has only a 1 point lead in his own state against Sarah Palin, at least according to a Public Policy Polling survey.

It’s even worse that it appears on the surface, according to the pollsters.

“These numbers are reflective of the overall trouble we found for Pawlenty at home in our final preelection poll of the state — his approval rating was under water and voters overwhelmingly said they didn’t think he should run for President,” the polling firm wrote.