Pssst. Michele, your 15 minutes are almost up. (Robert Galbraith/Reuters)
Last week, Barbara Morrill
reported that Michele Bachmann's entire New Hampshire campaign staff had
quit...
not quit... could not be reached for comment.
Today, we get further clarification:
The Team-NH of the Bachmann Campaign has chosen to release a joint statement regarding their departurefrom the campaign. This statement explains the following:
- The NH Team didn‟t want to leave the campaign, but it should be clear the entire NH teamhas departed.
- Everyone should understand that the NH Team realizes the importance of this election
- The NH team is committed to making Obama a one-term president, but it will be through other organizations/campaigns.
- The team holds no ill will towards the candidate, but not longer feels relevant based on their poor relationship with the national team.
The statement goes on ... and on ... and on. After much "soul-searching," the entire staff realized that while they "collectively felt loyalty to the candidate, they no longer have faith in the national team."
You think their lack of faith had anything to do with this?
Regarding pay, there also seems to be some misunderstanding. The five departing members were full-time contract employees until September 11, 2011, when they were asked by the national team to temporarily “go offpayroll”, possibly until the middle of October (2011), due to financial concerns within the campaign. Moreover, Chidester voluntarily took himself off payroll (retroactive to September 1, 2011) for the remainder of the campaign in an effort to help the campaign financially. Some members went back on payroll for Congresswoman Bachmann's most recent trip; but to date, no member of Team-NH has received any notification to continue employment - yet another failure by the national team to communicate with Team-NH. Recent statements by some members of the national team regarding the employment status of Team-NH were dishonest and belittling, but indicative of the larger problems that led to Team-NH's departure.
Amazing how not getting paid can lead to disagreement with management, eh? But the collectively loyal staff former staff wants us to know this isn't about not getting paid:
Team-NH would like to stress that pay was not a primary motivation, and that each member was committed to the candidate and her principals.
Right. It's just that they were a little less committed once the forces of the free market took over, and it turned out that there isn't much demand for the product they're selling. Plus, the national campaign was mean to them:
The manner in which some in the national team conducted themselves towards Team-NH was rude, unprofessional, dishonest, and at times cruel.
Shocking, isn't it, to find out that Michele Bachmann's campaign is "rude, unprofessional, dishonest, and at times cruel"? Who could have seen that coming?
Whatever the real reason the staffers left, this is definitely not excellent news for Michele Bachmann.