WASHINGTON — (CNN) Jeb Bush’s struggling presidential campaign is reducing salaries, downsizing its staff, and cutting travel costs in order to invest more in its ground game in early voting states, with a special focus on New Hampshire.
The move comes as Bush, once the front-runner, now finds himself lagging in the polls, while his campaign failed to outraise some of his rivals in the third quarter.
According to internal campaign talking points obtained by CNN, the campaign will slash payroll costs by 40% starting this week, cutting salaries across the board with the exception of most entry-level staff.
A quarter of its staff will remain in the Miami office, while 25% is already based in the states. But according to the memo, the vast majority of remaining staffers will be offered a position in the early voting states or as part of its ballot access effort at a reduced salary.
Travel costs will be reduced by 20%, and other overhead costs will be cut entirely, including 45% of the money originally envisioned for the non-media/voter contact budget, according to the talking points.
“We are making changes today to ensure Jeb is best positioned to win the nomination and general election,” spokeswoman Allie Bradenburger said in an email. “Jeb is the one candidate with a proven conservative record, bold ideas and the strong leadership needed to fix the problems America faces. We are moving our resources into the states to ensure that voters in primary and caucus states are introduced to his record and vision for the future.”
While laying out the changes, the talking points still try to play up the campaign’s current strengths, pointing to its extensive field operations in the four early voting states.
That includes 10 paid staffers and two offices in Iowa, 12 paid staffers and one office in New Hampshire, 8 paid staffers and three offices in South Carolina, and 8 paid staffers and 2 offices in Nevada.
Many of the staff deployed from campaign headquarters in Miami will go to New Hampshire from now until the primary in February.
Bush, who is already visiting each of the four early states about twice a month, is planning to make more frequent visits and longer trips to those states. “We will use the campaign’s best asset — Jeb Bush — and put him in front of as many voters as possible,” the talking points say.
The former Florida governor has been facing questions for weeks about his dwindling poll numbers. Bush has insisted that his slow and steady approach will push him past the finish line in the end, but he also has made sure to point out that former nominees have gotten off to a uneasy start.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash last month, Bush talked about seeing Sen. John McCain, the eventual 2008 GOP nominee, in an airport this time eight years ago, alone and holding his own luggage, while he was campaigning for president.
“And he won the nomination. And he did it because he’s a good man,” Bush said. “People knew he could lead.”
Pressed Thursday night on what it would take for Bush to drop out, the candidate maintained that he’s in the race for the long run.
“I’m not getting out. I believe we have a plan to be very competitive in the early states. We have the resources to stay with this,” he said on Fox News. “I’m campaigning hard, I’m campaigning with heart, I’m campaigning in a way that will draw people towards our cause.”
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