Huckabee Campaign Out of Dough

Good news: the American Spectator says that Mike Huckabee's campaign is out of money.

Mike Huckabee is asking his senior staff to keep working for him without pay, while lower level campaign staff are seeing their salaries cut dramatically or eliminated altogether.

"The goal is to get a leaner, meaner campaign structure moving into Super Tuesday," says a senior campaign adviser.

But many of those being asked to take the cut are refusing, and walking away, leaving the campaign with holes to fill.

The campaign is trying to save money for national ads leading into Super Tuesday. As I noted last week, Huckabee has discovered that he has little support outside of his evangelical grassroots operation (also known as the ministry phone tree). It takes money to reach people and it looks like he doesn't have any. We'll know more exactly just how much he's got when he makes his Q4 FEC filing at the end of the month.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a front page article on the Huckabee campaign's problems. It sounds like a seriously amateur outfit. Here's a taste:

He was hardly the ideal organizer. Asked what Mr. Henry knew about Michigan, Mr. Saltsman says he knew where it was. Mr. Henry, asked about his experience in organizing events, says, "I was student-body president at my university."

Just 36 hours before Mr. Huckabee landed in Michigan, the campaign had yet to put out his schedule for the trip. Mr. Saltsman huddled in his Myrtle Beach hotel room for a midnight conference call with Mr. Henry, Sarah Huckabee -- the candidate's 25-year-old daughter and national field director -- and Mr. Huckabee's daughter-in-law, Lauren Huckabee.

As they went over the Michigan plans, Mr. Saltsman was prepared for the worst. At the staff meeting earlier that night, Sarah Huckabee had reported that the entire Michigan team had threatened to quit because they were so frustrated at the task ahead.

So, how long after Super Tuesday will Huckabee stick around and who do his followers turn to next?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 03:10 AM

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