Perry’s Iowa Chairman Has Left Lagging Campaign

The Iowa chairman of Rick Perry’s presidential campaign, Sam Clovis, has stepped down, CBS News has confirmed.

The Iowa chairman for Rick Perry’s faltering Republican presidential bid said Monday that he is no longer part of the campaign, as Perry seeks to keep his longshot effort alive on limited funds.

The Perry campaign stopped paying staff earlier this month. And what he had to go through, for some reason, so far that hasn’t come out, but what has come out, the documents were more highly secret, more important, there were more of them.

Perry also received a vote of confidence from Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan, who posted several tweets on Sunday praising Perry’s experience and saying that “this country will be better off if [Perry] stays in the race”, imploring his followers to donate to him.

Fast forward two months: Clovis said Monday that his outlook on Perry’s chances had dimmed considerably. Numerous staff members that Perry had assembled in early primary states have continued to work without salaries, but there is no indication when or if the Perry campaign will be able to issue new paychecks. But pro-Perry outside groups amassed nearly $17 million on his behalf over the same period.

“It’s been fascinating”, Clovis said of Trump’s rise, adding that he’s so intrigued by Trump that he now watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” each day and tries to sees his rallies live on television. It is unlikely that any of the other Republican contenders will drop out before then, so if Perry is unable to raise his poll numbers high enough to make the top tier, he will have to hope he can give a standout performance like Fiorina’s spotlight stealing moments last time around. Clovis echoed similar sentiment as recently as two weeks ago. His 2012 presidential campaign started with great fanfare and strong fundraising, but collapsed quickly.