Fundraising consultant leaves Thompson campaign after lackluster month

Presidential campaigns always seem to offer the best gossip.

Only days after Fred Thompson reported lackluster fundraising numbers, the Associated Press is reporting that a top fundraising consultant is leaving the campaign.

Kim Kaegi, whose company was paid $35,000 in June, said Wednesday that her work was only meant to include the startup phase of the actor-politician's "testing the waters" fundraising effort.

It was less than a month ago that the Washington Post ran a story on the powerful players on the Thompson team:

But Thompson has Jim Haslam, the CEO of Pilot Travel Center and a Bush Ranger, as well as Michael Lebovitz, also a Bush Ranger, in his camp. Dorinda Moss, a native of Tennessee, is Thompson's national finance director.

Less well known but no less important is Kim Kaegi, a Tennessee fundraiser extraordinaire who has collected cash for nearly every serious GOP candidate in the state over the last several cycles. Kaegi was the driving force behind Sen. Bob Corker's (R-Tenn) 2006 campaign in which he raised more than $13 million.

While Kaegi called it a "stretch" to speculate that her departure was related to lower-than-expected totals.

Ok Kim. Just keep telling yourself that.