Damon linked to this story about some layoffs in the Kinky Friedman campaign on Saturday. You can go argue in the comments over there about what it means for him to hire a consultant that once worked for Dan Quayle, but I found this tidbit to be the more interesting:
Two of Friedman’s longtime friends, Cleve Hattersley and Steve “Beano” Boynton, also were taken off the payroll, [campaign manager Dean] Barkley said, but they are continuing to work for the campaign as volunteers.
What exactly were two “longtime friends” doing on his campaign payroll in the first place, and how much were they getting paid? Given the amount of resources he’s going to have to expend just to get onto the ballot, you’d think they’d have best served him as volunteers from the beginning. If I were a Friedman supporter (which I’m not), I’d be a little worried about his burn rate. Remember in 2004 how all of a sudden the Howard Dean campaign was broke, despite its fundraising prowess? I’m curious to see what his latest quarterly report will look like.