Mass Exodus Leaves Gingrich Candidacy Gasping for Air

The resignations of campaign manager Rob Johnson and five other senior campaign staffers earlier today raises serious questions about former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s ability to remain in the race.

In addition to Johnson’s resignation, sources close to the campaign told POLITICO that strategists Sam Dawson and Dave Carney, spokesman Rick Tyler, who worked for Gingrich for a dozen years, and consultants Craig Schoenfeld in Iowa and South Carolina’s Katon Dawson also abruptly left the campaign earlier today, protesting what they described as a “different vision” for the campaign.

The mass resignations also included all six of Gingrich’s paid staff members in Iowa.

The resignations were apparently “a team decision,” prompted by concerns about Gingrich’s personal vision of how the campaign should proceed, including how much time should be spent in Iowa in preparation for the Ames Straw Poll in August, and in other early battleground states.

There were also reportedly serious concerns about the former Speaker’s ability to raise money.

“There is a shortage of money,” said one former staffer. “It is a tough day and a tough world out here in the fundraising and political arena.”

Gingrich’s decision to take a two-week vacation shortly after announcing his candidacy was the last straw for some of his staffers. Gingrich, who only returned to the campaign trail yesterday, had been noticeably absent since May 27 when he and his wife, Callista, embarked on a planned vacation aboard a luxury cruise liner in the Mediterranean.

Coupled with his hefty charge account at Tiffany’s, the luxury jeweler for the rich and famous, Gingrich’s latest excursion to the Greek Isles does little to enhance his image as somebody who will fight for ordinary citizens, millions of whom are struggling financially as a result of the country’s recession-ravaged economy.

Despite today’s mass exodus, Gingrich vows to remain in the race. “I am committed to running the substantive, solutions-oriented campaign I set out to run earlier this spring,” he told supporters on his Facebook page. “The campaign begins anew Sunday in Los Angeles.”