By now, the news of Jeb Bush dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination has probably reached all corners of the USA. Everybody knows there are only 5 candidates remaining in the race and surely everybody knows who the first three are New York real-estate tycoon Donald Trump, Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Following behind the pack at a considerable distance are the remaining two underdogs of this campaign: Ohio Governor John Kasich and retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Judging from the evolution of Ben Carson’s campaign and the results recorded in previous primaries, it may be reasonable for people to question whether or not he should continue his campaign or follow in the footsteps of Jeb Bush.
From a big hope to just another random candidate
Ben Carson started out as one of the Republican establishment favorites last fall. However, a series of disastrous public appearances in which he showed how little his knowledge of foreign policy goes, made him quickly lose his good favor with grassroots conservatives.
Some of the statements made by Carson, that ultimately led to his massive drop in popularity regard Russia (arming Ukraine and giving consideration to military action against Russia) and Chinese cyber-attacks against the US (launching a series of counter-offensives against China).
People would be wrong to assume, however, that Ben Carson has come to terms with the idea that he will not be winning the GOP nomination. Following the South Carolina primary, the Republican candidate referred to his speech as a “just-the-beginning” speech, rather than a concession one.
At least the campaign doesn’t cost that much…
While some of his ambition may be attributed to the belief that his previous bad results are a consequence of dirty campaign strategies by Ted Cruz, this would only account for a poor showing in Iowa, leaving the rest of Carson’s downward spiral campaign as an indication to what his next step should be.
Dropping out of the campaign would not just be a way of saving face. Campaigns cost money. There are staff members to pay, airtime to be bought, promotional materials to be produced. This all amounts to quite high numbers. Leaving the campaign would, therefore, seem like the most reasonable financial decision when it is clear that chances of success are virtually non-existent.
But Ben Carson’s campaign has been running on fumes for a good deal of time, already. According to The Washington Post, a great deal of the money raised by Ben Carson to fund his campaign actually went back to pay for the whole fundraising process. Therefore the campaign machine is running really lean, with minimal costs as is.
Is there any reason to keep campaigning left?
If finance isn’t a reason for Ben Carson to drop out of the race for the presidential nomination, then what is? Could he be seeking to get back at Ted Cruz, whom he blames for his setbacks? Or could Ben Carson actually still believes in his chances of being the GOP presidential candidate? If so, coupling these unreasonable aspirations with previous statements made in regard to foreign policy may just leave people wondering whether or not Dr. Carson is slightly delusional.
