United Liberty

Nearly two weeks after senior staffers and others abandon his campaign, Newt Gingrich has taken another blow; this time losing his fundraising team:

Newt Gingrich’s top two fundraising advisers resigned on Tuesday, and officials said the Republican candidate’s hobbling presidential campaign carried more than $1 million in debt.

The departures of fundraising director Jody Thomas and fundraising consultant Mary Heitman were the latest blow for the former House speaker who watched 16 top advisers abandon his campaign en masse earlier this month, partly because of what people familiar with the campaign spending described as a dire financial situation.

These people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the campaign inner workings, said the former Georgia lawmaker racked up massive travel bills but money had only trickled in since he got into the race earlier this spring.

A spokesman for Gingrich says that the campaign will continue, “We are going to duct-tape together one coalition of Americans after another that believe in his large, bold vision of change.” I’d like to say that you can’t get elected on unicorns and rainbows, but I’m reminded of Barack Obama, who ran his campaign on two words; “hope” and “change.”

Over at the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza reminds us that Gingrich didn’t have the money to participate in the Ames Straw Poll, which is arguably the most important event for a presidential campaign supposedly trying to attract grassroots supporters.

Gingrich’s implosion has lasted over a month now. Honestly, I’m enjoying it since Gingrich has held several positions and supported policies, including TARP and Medicare Part D, that are antithetical to what I believe as a free marketer. Indeed, the GOP’s fiscal betrayal during the Bush Administration began while he was Speaker of the House.

The campaign may continue, but in name only. Gingrich is done.