“Barry Bennett, the longtime Republican strategist who until recently was Ben Carson’s campaign manager, is now serving as an informal adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign,” the Washington Post reports.
“The Trump campaign’s alliance with a former rival was finalized last week during a private meeting at the billionaire’s headquarters at Trump Tower where Bennett offered to assist with planning.”
“I think he’s just living in an alternative universe.”
Ben Carson’s national finance chairman resigned amid questions about his use of campaign funds and criticism from Carson allies and donors.
“Since he joined, some campaign insiders told Politico, Dean Parker’s operation has piled up unnecessary expenses and paid hefty consulting fees to an inexperienced staff. Parker recently began earning a $20,000 monthly salary, which veteran campaign operatives say is unusual for what is typically an unpaid, honorary role.”
All five paid New Hampshire staffers at the pro-Ben Carson 2016 Committee super PAC quit their posts on Sunday to become volunteers for Sen. Ted Cruz, WMUR reports.
House Republicans reached out to Ben Carson in 2014 about replacing John Boehner as Speaker of the House, The Hill reports.
Said Carson: “They were looking for an alternative, they were looking for someone strong and courageous who might really be able to add some spine and some backbone. I was very flattered that there were several members that thought I’d fit the bill very well, but I think it played out correctly the way that it did.”
Des Moines Register: “The question, in a crowd of about 500 people at a Thursday campaign rally, prompted immediate finger-pointing toward one student from more than half a dozen classmates at Isaac Newton Christian Academy… The targeted 10-year-old, who initially turned red in the face, ultimately shrugged off the exchange with a sense of humor.”
“I think they need some psychologists to figure that out.”
— Ex-Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett, in an interview with Time, on why commentator Armstrong Williams has so much influence over Ben Carson.
“Ben Carson is overhauling his campaign operation, adjusting his tone and doubling down on old-fashioned retail politics to help revive his flailing presidential bid,” CNN reports.
“The campaign is also trying to rev up its policy shop by bringing in more experts and releasing new policy proposals.”
Said campaign chairman Robert Dees: “We’ve had a policy engine that was idling. We’re going to allow the people of America to really see what Ben Carson really believes about certain things.”
“Three of Ben Carson’s high-ranking advisers, including campaign manager Barry Bennett, quit following an internal power struggle, a sharp decline in the polls and a week of confusion about who would remain on the retired neurosurgeon’s presidential campaign team,” the Washington Post reports.
“Shake-ups are not that unusual after a campaign starts dropping in the polls. But this one comes a week after the campaign’s inner tensions erupted publicly.”
Ben Carson “pledged to announce next week changes to his campaign, following days of back-and-forth about whether his operation is due for a shakeup,” Politico reports.
“Carson has given mixed signals in recent days about whether he’s planning to make personnel shifts and other changes in a bid to revive his flagging campaign. Last week, the retired neurosurgeon did interviews with The Washington Post and The Associated Press in which he hinted that changes were coming and said ‘everything is on the table.’ But before the day was over, he took his words back and laid blame on the two media outlets.”
Ben Carson said his campaign plans “alterations” to respond more aggressively to challenges to his life story and foreign policy expertise that have created a negative impression of him with some voters, Bloomberg reports.
Said Carson: “We have kind of taken a nonchalant attitude. That’s the wrong thing to do, so you will see much more aggressiveness in that region.”
“It’s been a pretty amazing year, no question about it. Highs and lows. Obviously, going through a process like this is pretty brutal. Everybody told me that it would be, so that doesn’t particularly surprise me.”
— Ben Carson, in an interview with the Washington Post.
Politico: “He has folded into Carson Enterprises his presidential campaign, which has excelled at fundraising, bringing in almost $32 million through the end of September — more than any other 2016 Republican candidate. That fundraising prowess continues, even as his poll numbers decline. His campaign manager Barry Bennett said Thursday they raised about $20 million since the beginning of October, matching their extraordinary summertime pace. Speaking fees over a nearly two-year period raked in $4.3 million. And his nonprofit continues to raise money.”
“It’s hard to see where one Carson stops and another begins… These blurred lines are significant. Since he declared his candidacy, Carson has traveled the country for his campaign, to promote his new book, to attend events for his charity and to give paid speeches.”
Politico: “Ben Carson moved quickly to shut off speculation about a high-level campaign shakeup Wednesday, just hours after he stoked the notion of wholesale personnel changes in a pair of interviews in his Maryland home. In a late-scheduled appearance on CNN, Carson distanced himself from interviews … in which he hinted that a shakeup was imminent, comments that were echoed and augmented by aides who applauded him for being back in charge of his campaign.”
Ben Carson told the Associated Press that he “is moving toward a major shake-up of his struggling campaign, with just six weeks to go until early voting begins to select party nominees.”
Said Carson: “Everything. Everything is on the table,” he said of the potential changes. “Every single thing is on the table. I’m looking carefully.”
Washington Post: “Carson declined to say whether his campaign manager, Barry Bennett, remains in charge…. According to two Republicans close to Carson, the retired neurosurgeon is already interviewing consultants for senior roles in the campaign without Bennett’s knowledge.”
“Internal campaign budget documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal show a political operation hemorrhaging cash. Mr. Carson’s team raised $8.8 million in October and spent $9.5 million—putting the retired neurosurgeon’s effort under water months before the first early-state voters caucus and cast ballots.”
“The budget documents also undermine the Carson campaign’s Nov. 1 claim that it raised $10 million in October—a figure Mr. Carson himself talked up on Twitter.”
Ben Carson told the Wall Street Journal that his policies wouldn’t be politically popular and it could hurt his chances at two terms in the Oval Office.
Said Carson: “You know, if I’m successful in this endeavor to become president of the United States, it’s very likely I would be a one-term president.”
“I sure hope we’re gonna get a lot of questions about foreign affairs and national defense. If so, slam dunk!”
— Ben Carson, quoted by Politico, on tonight’s GOP debate.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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