ShareThisDES MOINES - The last Michele Bachmann saw of her Iowa campaign chairman, Kent Sorenson was standing by quietly in a Pizza Ranch restaurant in Indianola, where her "99-county" bus tour had stopped for a brief rally on Wednesday afternoon.
Asked to say a few words on Bachmann's behalf, the state senator mumbled something about dental work. "I'm numb," he told a few dozen supporters and onlookers. "I'm afraid I'll start drooling."
Hours later, Sorenson turned up at a Ron Paul rally in Des Moines, where he found his voice and completed his defection. "We're going to take Ron Paul all the way to the White House," he told a much-larger crowd cheering for the rival Texas congressman.
With just a few days left before Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, Sorenson's switch marks the low point in an increasingly desperate presidential campaign, with Bachmann scrambling to stay relevant -- and on time.
It's also another sign of just how far she seems to have fallen since she campaigned to big crowds as Iowa's native daughter and won the straw poll in Ames at the end of the summer.
Now last in some polls and short on the cash needed to compete on the airwaves with the top-tier GOP candidates, the Minnesota Republican has just ended a punishing 10-day tour taking her to every county in Iowa, often hitting cafes and restaurants so fast she hardly had time to take off her coat. "We're the hardest-working campaign on the ground," Bachmann told supporters at the Northside Cafe in Winterset, in the heart of Madison County. "What we're seeing on the ground is nothing short of phenomenal."
But some GOP operatives say it's too little too late. And Sorenson's departure has contributed to the impression of a national campaign in disarray and losing ground in the very state where she has staked everything.
Following the exodus of Bachmann's New Hampshire campaign staff in October, Sorenson's exit will inevitably raise questions about Bachmann's ability to mount a national campaign.
Even before Sorenson bolted there were signs of strain on the campaign trail.
At a rally at Elly's Tea and Coffee House in Muscatine last week, Iowa GOP operative Craig Robinson said he encountered a crowd of 50 eager Bachmann supporters. Robinson, editor of the Iowa Republican, thought it was a good crowd for a weekday morning, one that might help Bachmann.
The only problem: Bachmann wasn't there yet.
"There was a pretty vocal woman sitting next to me complaining that she's late," Robinson recalled. "I think the issue is that Bachmann was 50 minutes late, and then she spent a total of 12 minutes there."
Part of Bachmann's time in the cafe, Robinson said, was spent shooting a caucus training video, an exercise she has repeated in all 99 counties, averaging some 10 counties a day.
By the time she got to Muscatine, Robinson said, Bachmann was so hoarse that her voice was reduced to a whisper.
In a campaign season shaped by a long series of nationally televised debates, some Iowans are starting to question Bachmann's heavy reliance on traditional retail-style politicking. Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have spent comparatively little time in Iowa until now. Meanwhile, Bachmann and fellow Christian conservative Rick Santorum, the only two to visit all 99 counties, have struggled to gain traction -- although Santorum is showing signs of a late surge.
But with polls showing that more than half of potential caucus-goers have yet to make up their minds, Bachmann is holding out hope. "A lot of people are going to be shocked on Jan. 3," she said in Winterset.
The candidate boasts a well-developed ground game, with organizers signed up in every county in Iowa. "It's a mistake to say the debates have supplanted caucus organization," said Tim Albrecht, an unaffiliated GOP operative and aide to Gov. Terry Branstad. "There's a real opportunity for those candidates who are out there, who are traveling the state."
Still, Albrecht sees an uphill battle for Bachmann, partly because her target audience of evangelical social conservatives is split among Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and her. Some evangelical leaders have called for her to leave the race or join forces with Santorum or Perry.
(Contact Kevin Diaz, a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington bureau, at kdiaz(at)startribune.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com)
Editors: This story is for print use only. Must credit Minneapolis Star Tribune.
