More staff departures for Bachmann campaign

Michele Bachmann's presidential campaign has already weathered one round of staff exits in early September. And early October has now brought some more.

News reports indicate that senior adviser Andy Parrish will be returning to work as chief of staff in the Minnesota lawmaker's congressional office. Campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart confirmed to news outlets that additional Hill staffers-turned-campaign-flaks Doug Sachtleben and Kimberley Rubin have left the presidential campaign. And pollster Ed Goeas confirmed to Reuters Monday he is also leaving the campaign team following reports by Politico Friday on his departure.

Goeas said his role had been reduced because Bachmann decided to bet big on the Iowa caucuses. "Doing a lot of polling is not what you do in Iowa. You spend your money on voter identification," Goeas told Reuters.

Others suggest that the latest staff departures stem from the stalled efforts of the Bachmann campaign to regain traction in the GOP field since Rick Perry entered the 2012 race. Since the Texas governor announced his entry into the race, Bachmann has fallen in the polls, and seen enthusiasm wane for her candidacy among likely GOP voters. Other observers suggest that the latest staff losses could reflect the Bachmann campaign's equally forbidding fundraising challenges.

Spokeswoman Stewart took issue with the latter suggestion this week, telling Minnesota Public Radio that these new staff changes were not related to fundraising and were part of the "plan all along."

Bachmann lost campaign manager Ed Rollins in early September as well as deputy campaign manager David Polyansky. Following Rollins' departure, Stewart told Politico, "the plan all along has been to restructure things after the [Ames] straw poll." Stewart did not immediately respond to The Ticket's request for comment Tuesday.