A GOP operative who won plaudits for bolstering Mitt Romney’s recent debate performances is not being retained by the front-runner’s campaign, an apparent victim of internal tensions over staff receiving too much credit for the candidate’s comeback, POLITICO has learned. 
 
 Brett O’Donnell, a former top aide to Michele Bachmann, has been paid for his work assisting Romney in the crucial Florida debates but was not offered a formal role with the campaign as he expected, according to Republican sources familiar with the situation. 
 
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 After O’Donnell was identified last week as advising Romney and then highlighted in subsequent news accounts as being one of the reasons behind the former Massachusetts governor’s improved debate performances, Romney campaign officials grew uneasy. 
 
 O’Donnell received phone calls late last week from two Romney advisers — campaign manager Matt Rhoades and informal adviser Charlie Black — where it was made clear that there was severe discomfort about how his role was being portrayed in the media and that he ought to tread lightly. 
 
 Then on Saturday, when The New York Times posted a Sunday story online detailing how Romney’s campaign targeted Newt Gingrich in Florida that again mentioned O’Donnell’s role with the debates, chief Romney strategist Stuart Stevens called O’Donnell. Stevens asked the adviser to contact Jim Rutenberg, one of the Times reporters who wrote the piece, and request that the reporter change the depiction of O’Donnell’s role in what would become a front-page article, according to Republican sources. 
 
 The Times altered some of the language relating to O’Donnell in the final story — he was mentioned briefly as only a “debate adviser” — but O’Donnell’s name was not removed. O’Donnell was not quoted in the story. 
 
 Reached on the phone by POLITICO Friday, O’Donnell declined to comment. 
 
 Stevens would only say: “I have a great deal of respect for Brett and would welcome the opportunity to work together again down on the road.” 
 
 But, according to the Romney campaign last week, O’Donnell was already part of the team. 
 
 A former Liberty University debate coach, O’Donnell worked for John McCain’s 2008 campaign and was a senior aide to Bachmann up until her withdrawal from the campaign last month. He’s well-regarded in the Republican operative world and is not generally known as a self-promoter. 
 
 Now, though, sources familiar with his thinking say he feels like he has become the fall guy after both senior aides and Romney himself expressed ire about the grab for credit generally and the much-buzzed-about Sunday Times story specifically. 
 
 O’Donnell’s understanding was that, following the Florida primary this past Tuesday, he would be tendered a formal offer to advise Romney on debates going forward. 
 
 But GOP sources say he was abruptly informed on Wednesday that he would be paid for his work to date but would not retained in any formal capacity. 
 
 The internal machinations come as Romney has reasserted himself as the GOP front-runner, but also as the buttoned-down candidate and Rhoades — the equally disciplined and leak-despising campaign manager — have grown uneasy about the focus on the tactics employed in the comeback. 
 
 Any presidential campaign places a high demand on loyalty to the principal, but the Boston high command is especially deferential to the man aides call “the gov.” 
 
 Much like President Obama’s campaign and the White House, Romneyworld prides itself on running a tight ship, minimizing unplanned leaks and keeping any staff drama to a minimum. ||||| 5 years ago 
 
 (CNN) - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has parted ways with debate coach Brett O'Donnell, a Romney campaign source confirmed Friday. 
 
 O'Donnell, a former Michele Bachmann adviser who also did debate prep sessions with John McCain and Sarah Palin in 2008, was given credit in several media reports as the man behind Romney's impressive back-to-back debate performances in Florida. 
 
 
 
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 But a source inside the campaign told CNN Friday that O'Donnell's role "was vastly overblown." 
 
 O'Donnell was present in the spin room after the CNN debate in Jacksonville giving credit to Romney for his preparation and work habits. 
 
 That night, O'Donnell told CNN that Romney realized after his South Carolina primary loss that he needed to "make some changes strategically" in his onstage message. 
 
 "He knew he had to engage Newt more and be better on a couple of answers," O'Donnell explained. "He worked really hard to get them right, and tonight I saw a vast improvement." 
 
 But in the days after the Florida debates, some Romney advisers groused privately that O'Donnell was being given too much credit for Romney's performances, and proactively emailed reporters to downplay his role in the campaign. 
 
 O'Donnell did not respond to an email seeking comment. 
 
 - CNN Political Reporter Peter Hamby contributed to this report. 
 
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 Gingrich to challenge Florida delegates ||||| 2012 Primary Debate Schedule 
 
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– Today's lesson in the stroking of political egos: Team Romney has dropped newly added debate coach Brett O'Donnell, the man widely credited with engineering Romney's more aggressive (and successful) approach in the last debate, reports Politico. The problem? O'Donnell had been getting too much credit for the debate turnaround, and that was ruffling feathers within the campaign, GOP sources tell the website. Another insider tells much the same to CNN, calling O'Donnell's role "vastly overblown." The next scheduled debate isn't until Feb. 22.