Bachmann Loses N.H. Campaign Team
Updated: 5:45 p.m.
Rep. Michele Bachmann’s entire Granite State team has quit her presidential campaign, according to a report from ABC’s New Hampshire affiliate WMUR.
The five-member team gave notice because the Minnesota Republican “had not paid sufficient attention to New Hampshire,” the station reported.
Bachmann, who was flying high briefly after her Iowa straw poll win in early August, has seen her fortunes and poll numbers sink recently. Since her peak, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and businessman Herman Cain have eclipsed her in both interest and polling, while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has held a stable lead for the GOP nomination.
Bachmann has taken an all-in approach to the Iowa caucuses. After he stepped down in early September from running day-to-day operations for Bachmann’s campaign, her former campaign manager, Ed Rollins, told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell: “Right now, she’s competing hard in Iowa. She doesn’t have the ability or resources to go beyond that Iowa at this point.”
Bachmann was in New Hampshire earlier this month for a few days on the trail around the time of the Bloomberg/Washington Post debate. She told reporters at the time that she planned to return.
Bachmann campaign manager Keith Nahigian, who took over for Rollins, denied knowledge of any resignations.
“We have a great team in New Hampshire and we have not been notified that anyone is leaving the campaign,” he said in a statement issued from Iowa.
He also addressed the Iowa-versus-New Hampshire strategy, writing, “We look forward to spending more time in the Granite State between now and the primary, but our campaign has emphasized that our main focus is the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa and we are continuing to build efforts there.”