The star of Michele Bachmann, who wants to ride the energy of the Tea Party all the way to the White House, is dimming quickly - at least in the key state of New Hampshire.
Her entire team there has resigned in a huff over the "cruel" and "dismissive" way they were being treated by the congresswoman's national campaign team.
While personnel struggles and high-dudgeon walkouts are hardly uncommon within presidential campaigns, few can remember a candidate being ditched by every one of their staff in a state, particularly one as important as New Hampshire, which holds the first Republican primary on January 11.
The drama in the Bachmann enclosure is the latest in a series of squalls to ruffle the Republican field. Causing fresh consternation yesterday, in the camp of long-time front-runner Mitt Romney, was a New York Times/CBS News poll showing him slipping to second place nationally behind Herman Cain, the former Godfather's Pizza chief executive and radio talk show host.
Governor Rick Perry of Texas, once seen as the main threat to Romney, was trying to claw back some attention by unveiling a radical economic plan that would replace the progressive US tax code with a 20 per cent personal income and corporate flat tax.
