Dr. Ben Carson (Photo: Twitter)
The Ben Carson presidential campaign is deflecting calls from the media and other Republicans for the retired neurosurgeon to get out of the 2016 race, saying the voters will make that decision and hoping they will choose values over volume.
Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Bob Dees is chairman of the Carson campaign. He told WND and Radio America there’s no reason to demand any candidates get out of the race after only four contests.
“There’s a lot of pundits who say, ‘John Kasich ought to get out, or Ben Carson ought to get out, or Ted Cruz ought to get out of the race so that my guy can win.’ We’ve got a democratic political process and we ought to follow it, rather than preordain who’s going to survive the gauntlet,” said Dees, who also serves as a top foreign-policy adviser to Carson.
Dees said this is not some quixotic effort after four disappointing performances. He said the supporters are there, but there are challenges in turning that into electoral success.
“There’s a lot of pent-up enthusiasm out there,” Dees said. “Folks are voting with their feet everywhere but the polls. We’re hopeful it’ll reflect in the polls as well. We recognize that needs to happen sooner rather than later. As Dr. Carson will tell his supporters, ‘If not now, then when? And if not us, then whom?’”
He said the same obstacles apply in the scramble for delegates.
“The good news about Dr. Carson’s grassroots support is that it’s really across the country,” Dees said. “Sometimes we wish it were concentrated in one state so you win that state and you get all those delegates at once. The reality is, that’s not the way a grassroots movement of ‘We the People’ works.”
While Dees is optimistic for better results soon, he’s not expecting any shockers on Super Tuesday, when voters in 12 states and one U.S. territory head to the polls.
“I don’t know where we might compete for the victory. That’s hard to project,” said Dees, who believes Carson is gaining strength in Texas and other Southern states leading up to Tuesday.
Listen to the WND/Radio America interview with Carson campaign chairman Bob Dees:
In the primaries and caucuses already concluded, analysts often break down the vote by tallying support for Carson, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz as the outsider vote and everyone else as the mainstream, or establishment, vote. Dees rejects that classification.
“[Carson] is the only true outsider,” Dees said. “To suggest that Donald Trump is an outsider is a bit duplicitous because inside politically and inside with buying influence in that and that. That’s just a matter of record.”
He wasn’t done contrasting his candidate with Trump.
“The questions we have to ask the American people are, ‘Do we want volume or do we want values? Do we want wisecracks or do we want wisdom? Do we want wild proclamations or do we want common-sense solutions with Dr. Ben Carson?’ That’s been his hallmark, including standing in front of President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast,” Dees said.
Carson has been stung by a few different developments in recent months. One is his reluctance to join the rhetorical fray in the debates unless called upon or referenced. Dees said Carson is happy to contrast himself with his opponents but will never get down into the mud.
“Dr. Carson will never change his character because that’s who he is,” Dees said. “He will never make personal attacks. At the debates, I would not expect him to attack anyone, but if there’s a lot of gladiator jousts, it might become obvious to the American people who the real adult in the room is.”
Another common analysis is that, when the focal point of the campaign turned to ISIS late last year after attacks in Paris and California, Carson was not up to speed on foreign policy. Dees said that is completely untrue and Carson has shown great instincts and common sense in their foreign-policy sessions.
And he said Carson’s leadership skills are well established.
“Who’s had more 2 a.m. calls than Dr. Ben Carson? Just consider who’s dealt with more life or death scenarios. Consider who is truly steady in a crisis,” Dees said.
For him personally, Dees said it was easy for him to sign onto the Carson campaign at the very beginning, noting Carson’s honesty, integrity and faith.
“It’s who he is as a person. You can do a lot of things, and he’s done a lot of things. You can know a lot of things, and he knows a lot of things. But, ultimately, who is a person internally? What is their internal moral compass?” asked Dees. “Ben Carson is as steady as they come.”
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