Two and a half years ago, the public at large had never heard of Dr Ben Carson, gifted neurosurgeon, author, inspirational speaker, and mentor for inner-city youth, THEN he spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast, and excoriated Obamacare to our Dear Leader’s face – it was a beautiful thing to behold, and it garnered way more than 15 minutes of fame for the good doctor.
The problem I first noticed was the “TEA Party” groups hyping Carson’s commonsense performance and compelling life story of humble beginnings to renowned surgeon – they were fund-raising and cashing in for a “Draft Ben” movement, before the public had chance for a better look at Carson’s actual presidential potential, and before the doctor had even considered the possibility.
Eventually, the courtiers and hangers-on convinced Ben to run, and people began to get a closer look at him. During this early phase, his recently released book, America the Beautiful became a best seller, and he also continued his paid speaking engagements, including speaking and cutting a video for controversial nutraceutical manufacturer, Mannatech. (See our earlier article for more detail.)
Dr Carson’s speeches and appearances began to get more scrutiny, including his mixed messages on the Second Amendment: “I think if you live in the midst of a lot of people, and I’m afraid that that semi-automatic weapon is going to fall into the hands of a crazy person, I would rather you not have it.” This example was indicative of the kind of off the cuff statements and policy prescriptions which eventually doomed his campaign.
Also troubling was the presence of Armstrong Williams – author, columnist, talk-show host, business manager, and close friend of the doctor. I have nothing personally against Mr Williams, but his involvement in many aspects of Dr Carson’s business endeavors and campaign have resulted in contradictions and in great frustration for the campaign staff.
We attended several campaign appearances in NH, and my wife helped organize some of them – the stump speeches were good commonsense stuff, but there were troubling aspects – when asked policy questions, Carson always seemed to be making up the answers as he went along, instead of expounding well thought out policy positions with conviction. Furthermore, the more often we met him, the more it became apparent that, not only did Carson not have a knack for remembering people, he couldn’t even remember key people who had helped him in the past – campaign staff confirmed that it never improved. (Again, more details in earlier article.)
By the time Carson filed his ballot papers in NH, he had already taken a month off from campaigning to promote his most recent book, and his poll numbers were falling. Again, he made it clear that he’d not learned how to deliver succinct answers to the press, giving a rambling response to the (incorrect) proposition that Trump had demanded a database on Muslims, during which Carson emitted the doozy “We should have a database on EVERYBODY”!! I don’t have to make this stuff up – Carson can do it perfectly well by himself!
The most perceptive comment on filing day was made by the candidate who preceded Carson to the Secretary of State’s office, Vermin Supreme, who stated that Carson would be ideally suited as the head of the Department of Pediatric Neurosurgery. When asked if he meant Surgeon General, Vermin reaffirmed his original statement – IE don’t let this guy outside his area of expertise – many a true word spoken in jest! The very next day, on GrokTALK, we discussed the developments, and concluded Carson was done.
Following the fall from grace in Iowa, Carson’s numbers gradually declined nationally, amid rumors that he just couldn’t grasp the essentials of foreign policy, and disarray amongst his advisers. Then there was the overseas trip to Israel and Africa, which was planned as a single excursion to burnish his foreign policy credentials, and then cancelled due to “security concerns”. Look, Israel, I get, but why would you be going to Nigeria, Kenya and Zambia, apart from personal vanity (prior patients live in Zambia), or searching for his and Obama’s roots (Kenya)? The disturbance in ‘The Farce’ was getting pretty strong by now!
“Carson took a seat in the curve of the couch and proceeded to explain that his staffers had let him down. Spent too much money. Kept trying to get him to change — to be more pugnacious, Trump-esque, even. A shake-up would come as soon as the next day — or maybe not for a few weeks — but it would come.
…..By [the time WaPo had reported the remarks a couple of hours later], Carson had walked them back and expressed “100 percent confidence” in his staff.
Way to inspire the staff and fill them with good cheer in time for Christmas, Doctor, NOT! “The entire team was left wondering if they had a job,” [Campaign Manager Barry] Bennett said. “It made for a great Christmas.” (The Hill)
Then, on New Years Eve, things came completely unglued: First, Carson told Campaign Manager Barry Bennett that he was letting Communications Director Doug Watts go – Bennett quit immediately, citing differences of opinion between Business Manager Williams and the campaign staff. Clearly he wasn’t the only frustrated one, as the initial resignations ballooned into a trickle, and eventually a flood, with a total of 21 staff leaving the campaign by evening. From Reuters:
U.S. Republican Ben Carson’s 2016 presidential bid was thrown into chaos on Thursday when his campaign manager and some 20 other staff members quit amid infighting, dropping poll numbers and negative media coverage.
Barry Bennett, who oversaw Carson’s rapid rise to the top tier of Republican contenders and his later fall, said he quit over differences with another top adviser to Carson, Armstrong Williams.
Specifically, Bennett blamed Williams for an interview Carson gave last week to The Washington Post suggesting that the campaign was in disarray. “It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen a candidate do,” Bennett said.
Things had “boiled over” with Williams, Bennett told Reuters. “For the past seven weeks, I’ve been doing nothing but putting out Armstrong Williams-started fires,” Bennett said.
“You have to surround yourself with good people,” Bennett said. “And he hasn’t demonstrated that he can do that. No one wants Armstrong Williams anywhere near the Oval Office.” (AP, via Charlotte Observer)
You can slice this any way you like, but recent events have confirmed the impression of an indecisive executive with an overly influential adviser in control. Haven’t we seen enough of that with Obama and Valerie Jarrett?
A fine man, a great surgeon, an inspiring speaker, but definitely not the kind of decisive executive we need in times of trouble, and the disarray at campaign HQ may well spell the end of Carson’s hopes for the nomination – IF that was indeed the goal, and not simply increasing his value on the speaking circuit.
H/T HotAir.com for links to many other sources.
