March 2, 2016

Ben Carson Sees No “Path Forward” to the GOP Nomination

Mark Humphrey/AP

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After briefly taking the lead in the Republican primary race in the fall, Ben Carson’s campaign is basically over. He is currently in last place in the GOP primary. On Wednesday, the neurosurgeon sent a statement to supporters informing them that he sees no “path forward” to the nomination and that he will not attend Thursday night’s GOP debate.

So he’s dropping out, right? That is actually unclear. As the Washington Post put it:

Carson, however, will not formally suspend his campaign. Instead, the Republicans said, he has decided to make a speech about his political future on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland, just outside of Washington.

Carson is scheduled to speak at CPAC on Friday afternoon.

Here’s Carson’s full message to his supporters:

As one of my most dedicated supporters, I wanted you to hear this directly from me.

I have decided not to attend the Fox News GOP Presidential Debate tomorrow night in Detroit.

Even though I will not be in my hometown of Detroit on Thursday, I remain deeply committed to my home nation, America.

I do not see a political path forward in light of last evening’s Super Tuesday primary results.

However, this grassroots movement on behalf of “We the People” will continue.

Along with millions of patriots who have supported my campaign for President, I remain committed to saving America for future generations. We must not depart from our goals to restore what God and our Founders intended for this exceptional nation.

I appreciate the support, financial and otherwise, from all corners of America.

Gratefully, my campaign decisions are not constrained by finances; rather by what is in the best interest of the American people.

I will discuss more about the future of this movement during my speech on Friday at CPAC in Washington, D.C.

Thank you for everything.

Sincerely,

Ben Carson

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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