Miller and Popma Leave McCain’s Iowa Team

Iowa Communications Director Tim Miller and Iowa “Coalitions Director” (actually an important position) Marlys Popma announced resignations from McCain’s Iowa campaign today.

Both are heavy hitters, but both also seem like the type to be loyal to a cause until they get the impression that the cause is no longer loyal to them. Is McCain skipping Iowa?

Less than a month away from the Straw Poll (which McCain already said he wouldn’t compete in), McCain reportedly has only five paid staffers in Iowa, and that number has been declining very quickly (I have heard nothing to contradict Kay Henderson’s reporting on this one). When McCain talks about his strategy, he says he’ll be focusing on “early primary states,” but he seldom names Iowa explicitly, despite its important position in that category of states.

McCain only has a few eggs left, and he’s going to put them in a very small number of baskets. It’s only a matter of time until he announces that Iowa isn’t one of them.

Update: David Yepsen seems to be thinking along the same lines.  (Did he steal the “death watch” line in his post from Ben’s series on Iowa Independent [1, 2, 3]?)