Romney's key campaigner 'jumps sinking ship'

Mitt Romney's stuttering bid for the US presidency suffered yet another setback on Thursday as his campaign co-chairman announced that he was quitting, leading to accusations that he was "deserting a sinking ship".

Tim Pawlenty, who was on Romney's vice presidential short-list, left his post yesterday to become the chief lobbyist for America's banking industry.

The news came during the Republican hopeful's worst campaign week so far and coincided with an attempt to restyle himself as a champion of the poor after he effectively disowned half the American population as "dependants" in a damaging campaign video.

Pawlenty, who had been widely expected to take a job in a Romney cabinet, hailed the presidential hopeful as "a truly good man and great leader", and stressed that he would be banned from party political work in his new job.

However, he did not explain why he needed to leave the campaign immediately. He is due to take up his new role on Nov 1 and is expected to be paid about $1.8 million a year. There has been speculation as to why he has not stayed to oversee the campaign until the elections on Nov 6. "Tim Pawlenty jumps the sinking SS Romney," declared Vanity Fair magazine. Jeffrey Sachs, the economist and Columbia University professor, accused Pawlenty of "bailing ship" and said his move "exposes the systemic corruption" between politics and big business.

A spokesperson for Pawlenty said: "If what you are suggesting is that he thinks Governor Romney is going to lose, well, he does not think that".

Pawlenty's move to head the Financial Services Roundtable makes him a public face for the industry blamed for the 2008 financial crisis. America's recession has left 23 million people jobless or seeking more work four years later.

His resignation was announced amid ongoing criticism of Romney's secretly recorded remark to wealthy donors that he would "not worry" about the 47% of voters who were "dependants".

Seeking to limit the damage, Romney, a former private equity boss worth $250 million, told voters yesterday: "My campaign is about the 100% of America."

Bill Allison of the Sunlight Foundation, a pro-transparency group, said: "This is not going to allay fears from some voters in the Midwest that a Romney presidency would be too close to the financial industry. There is an incestuous relationship between Wall Street and Washington, and this is another example of that."

Lobbyists frequently rank among the most unpopular professionals in America, alongside politicians and bankers. Only one in 10 respondents to a Public Affairs Pulse poll said in July that they would think more positively of a corporation that employed lobbyists.

Pawlenty will become Wall Street's emissary to Washington less than a year after he said in an interview that as president, his "message to Wall Street" would be: "Get your snout out of the trough". After abandoning his own campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he became one of Romney's official "surrogates" who attacked opponents on the candidate's behalf.

Romney trails Barack Obama by 3.1 points nationally, according to RealClearPolitics, which also rates the Republican challenger as lagging behind in all 10 of the likeliest battleground states.

Romney said yesterday: "Tim Pawlenty is a dear friend. While I regret he cannot continue as co-chair of my campaign, his new position advancing the integrity of our financial system is vital to the future of our country."