Newt Gingrich’s already disastrous run for president which included Medicare maverickiness that immediately backfired in a big way was dealt what could very well be a fatal blow today, when his top aides resigned en masse. They include campaign manager Rob Johnson, spokesman Rick Tyler, and top consultants in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. According to Politico, they “all quit to protest what two officials called their ‘different vision’ for the campaign.” Part of this vision disparity no doubt involved opinions on Gingrich’s oddly timed Mediterranean cruise, which he may or may not still be on returned from on Tuesday.
Another “vision” that some of these top staffers probably have is a desire to work on the potential candidacy of Texas governor Rick Perry, with whom many of them have close connections. Perry may or may not run, but since he hasn’t even entered the race yet, his campaign has a lot more potential than Gingrich’s, which was always going to be a long shot and became even more of one after Gingrich underestimated the GOP’s passion for Paul Ryan’s Medicare plan.
AP: Senior Gingrich 2012 aides resign en masse [MSNBC]
Exodus from Newt camp [Politico 2012]
Update: It gets worse for Gingrich as his entire paid Iowa staff has also resigned.
Update II: In a post on his own Facebook wall, Gingrich says he’s not dropping out.
Update III: Gingrich’s campaign co-chairman, former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue, has ditched Gingrich for Tim Pawlenty.
Update IV: Fred Barnes at the Weekly Standard reports that staffers “resigned from his presidential campaign in protest of what they felt was a takeover by Callista Gingrich,” who apparently couldn’t survive without that Mediterranean cruise:
