What is it about winning a straw poll that fractures campaign cohesion? Fresh off a victory in the Florida post-debate straw poll, presidential hopeful Herman Cain faces the sudden loss of his communications director, Ellen Carmichael.
“I have resigned but the paper work’s not final . . . It’s a very amicable departure,” Carmichael said to CNN. “He wished me the best of luck. And I will forever be fond of him and appreciative of this opportunity.”
Robert Stacy McCain notes that Cain has recently hired a New Media staffer who would also be Carmichael’s boss, even though Carmichael has worked for Cain for a little less than a year.
Cain isn’t the first (top-tier?) presidential candidate to lose staff after winning a straw poll. After winning the Ames Straw Poll, Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., lost her campaign manager and deputy campaign manager in a shake-up of the staff that the campaign said had been scheduled to occur after the straw poll. At the time, Bachmann appeared locked in a three horse race with Gov. Rick Perry, R-Texas, and former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass. According to recent polling, Herman Cain now holds that third spot.
