PrairiePundit

 Ben Carson: Just over a year ago, I wrote about the dangers of the left’s seemingly innocuous shift of vernacular from "equality" to "equity." Instead of pursuing the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ideal of judging people by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin, the Biden administration committed to a different path. Equity’s worldview, as I see it, starts with the proposition that the white majority is guilty of bigotry and oppression, and that all differential outcomes between groups are solely the result of that bigotry and oppression. Equity proponents therefore argue that retributive actions against the majority are necessary to correct those wrongs – we’ll get to that later. So, what has the Biden administration done to achieve its goal of redistribution, driven by race-based victimization narratives that demonize entire groups, AKA "equity" since I last wrote on the topic? First and foremost was the nomination of Supr...

Daily Wire: Ben Carson was the first neurosurgeon to successfully separate conjoined twins, so, he's kind of a super hero. But apparently, he's also not a bad accountant. President Trump picked Carson to head the Department of Housing and Urban Development, whose budget grew by leaps and bounds under Barack Obama. In one of his first acts as HUD Secretary, Carson ordered an audit of the agency. What he found was staggering: $520 billion in bookkeeping errors. "The total amounts of errors corrected in HUD’s notes and consolidated financial statements were $516.4 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively," the auditors wrote. But there were plenty of other problems, too. There were several other unresolved audit matters, which restricted our ability to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to express an opinion. These unresolved audit matters relate to (1) the Office of General Counsel’s refusal to sign the management representation letter, (2) HUD’s impro...

Washington Examiner: Ben Carson has told supporters he sees "no path forward" in the Republican presidential race and is planning to exit. In an email to supporters, Carson said that he plans to skip Thursday's GOP debate in Detroit and ultimately exit from the GOP primary contest, arguing that there is no "political path forward" after a poor showing on Super Tuesday. Longtime advisor Armstrong Williams confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Carson will officially suspend his campaign Friday in a speech to CPAC. ... And now there are four left in the race.  Kasich should reach the same conclusion soon too.  

Watching Donald Trump talk about national security has to be a scary thing.  He seems to think that yelling and insults will change people's attitude.  How does he think he will build a coalition to fight ISIL or anyone else? Jeb Bush is doing better again in this debate and even Kasich is not as annoying as he sometimes is. Ted Cruz continues to demonstrate knowledge that outpaces the moderators that try to try him.  When Donald Trump accuses him of lying he confronts him with the facts and Trump's own words. Rubio appears to have recovered his mojo for this debate.  Carson, not so much. While Trump has had his moments, particularly in the movement of jobs to Mexico and other countries.  Overall he has not looked presidential so much as look like a madman with an army.

Robert Eno: The one question left unanswered amid the fight over campaigns sharing media reports about Ben Carson dropping out is why the report was so easy to believe in the first place. Carson’s campaign has been a series of stops and starts over the past few months – with a smattering of book promotion in between. It is through that prism that Carson’s Florida swing to pick up his laundry was viewed. But first, a look at what happened on caucus night is in order. Yes, CNN reported that it was “unusual” for a candidate who is “serious” about winning to “go home,” instead of campaigning. Here is the video from sixteen minutes before the caucuses opening. Dana Bash said, “look, if you want to be President of the United States you don’t go home to Florida. I mean that’s just bottom line, the end of the story.” Bash continued, “if you want to signal to your supporters that you want it, that you are hungry for it, that you want them to get out and campaign, you gotta be out th...

Neil Stevens: ... Given the Democrats’ open hostility to Christians, it’s noteworthy that Donald Trump came out as the least religious candidate of all. Every other Republican scored ahead of Hillary Clinton (+5) and Bernie Sanders (+5), but Donald Trump was actually well under water, at a -30 net. 60% of those polled thought Trump is “Not too religious” or “Not at all religious”. The candidates at the top of the heap? Former Iowa frontrunner Ben Carson (+57), and Ted Cruz (+53), the guy who got most of Carson’s support. ... This could be an indicator of how candidates do with evangelicals in Iowa.  It also raises questions about the endorsements of Trump by some evangelical leaders.

Washington Post: The Republican field has a diversity quandary The party has three minorities among its top four presidential hopefuls and wants to get more votes from people of color, but the candidates aren’t using ethnic identity to appeal to voters. What is happening is these Republicans are treating all voters as equal.  The Democrats should try that rather than their tired grievance rhetoric.   At this point the Democrats seem more concerned about not being able to argue that the GOP is too white or too old/

Burka Blog: ... Trump is a candidate whose entire pitch, such as it is, rests on the illusion that he is a winner. He claims to be a successful businessman; in reality, he would have been better off investing the money he inherited in an index fund forty years ago. He claims to know more about ISIS “ than the generals do” ; in reality, the little he knows about the armed services is drawn from his experience at a military-themed boarding school. He thinks that he has “better” hair than Marco Rubio ; I mean, can a sentient adult offer a straight-faced response to that? We already know how Trump responds when his braggadocio is exposed for the posturing it is: he lashes out. He’s still brooding about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly , who committed the cardinal sin of asking him questions during a debate. When Ben Carson challenged his status as frontrunner in the polls, Trump responded by flapping his belt around and comparing Carson to a child molester . Cruz, meanwhile, is a student o...

Erick Erickson: Karl Rove Helping Ben Carson Has Everything to do With Ted Cruz If that is there plan it is not working in Iowa. The thinking is that the establishment is trying to keep Carson viable long enough for one of their candidates to capture his vote.  Rubio id probably their most likely savior since Christie and Bush are fading.  One of the things about Cruz that many find attractive is that he is willing to take on the establishment Republicans so this move has a high potential for backfiring.

USA Today: Oops! Carson's not actually wrong about Jefferson: David Mastio It turns out that Jefferson was communicating with those at the convention through letters when the constitution was being drafted.  Among those he exchanged correspondence with were Madison who is credited with drafting the document as well as George Washington. The media is in such a rush to make Ben Carson look ignorant that they are exposing their own ignorance of history.

NBC News: In the Republican primary race, the newest NBC News/SurveyMonkey online poll shows Donald Trump has the frontrunner spot to himself, with 28% support among Republican and independent voters who lean Republican. Support for Ben Carson, who was tied with Trump in last month's online poll, has fallen off by 8 points and the former neurosurgeon is now tied with Ted Cruz at 18%. Trailing not too far behind is Marco Rubio, at 11%. The next tier of candidates has a lot of catching up to do, with Jeb Bush at 4% and Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina each with 3%. During the volatile primary season, the attention that is gained from being the lead candidate in the polls can be a mixed blessing. The media tends to shift its focus to those candidates leading the race - and that spotlight can seem especially harsh to those who are newer to the political scene. At the same time, rival candidates are quick to target any apparent or imagined flaw of those in the lead. This is what hap...

Politico: Carson loses his hold on Iowa’s conservatives Worried about security, these voters are shifting toward Ted Cruz. Cruz has been strong on national security and is really challenging Obama on the issue as well as on the refugee issue.  Cruz also appears to have a stronger ground game in the early states.

NY Times: Carson Is Struggling on Foreign Policy, His Advisers Say The candidate’s remarks on the Middle East and national security have raised questions about his knowledge of the subject, and advisers say tutoring is having little effect. He is already demonstrating that he is smarter than Obama in dealing with ISIL and the Syrian refugee issue.  What is probably more important at this point is whether he has competent advisers on foreign policy.  That is something Obama lacks.  Obama's narcissism  probably causes him to disregard good advice when it is given, because he thinks he knows it all.

Daily Mail: Dr. Ben Carson gives a lesson on the human brain's 'big frontal lobes' saying allowing Syrian refugees into the United States requires a 'suspension of intellect' Neurosurgeon-turned-presidential candidate Ben Carson thinks those big frontal lobes that humans possess can come in handy - especially when it comes to making good decisions about Syrians. From a layman's perspective too, it looks like a crazy idea to import people in mass that probably includes terrorist.  The more sane approach is to proved refugee services in the region.  Christians who are being subjected to genocide by ISIL should get a priority and nay Muslims who come must renounce radical Islam. The administration has this strange idea that Muslims will think that a war against radical Islam will be interpreted as a war against all Muslims.  That assumes a pretty low level of cognitive thought by Muslims who are often victims of the same mass murder attacks. It should be ...

NY Times: Donald Trump Asks Iowans: ‘How Stupid’ Are They to Believe Ben Carson? Donald J. Trump unleashed a torrent of insults on Thursday against his main rival, Ben Carson, comparing him to a child molester in a television interview and suggesting that the people of Iowa are “stupid” if they believe Mr. Carson’s claim that he tried to stab a close relative during his childhood. If insulting his opponents is not enough, he decides to insult the voters.  It is certainly a unique approach, but I suspect it is one that will not work.

In a short statement he explains the problems of this country and its opportunities.

Carson exceeded expectations on several fronts from his terrific answer on the question of raising the minimum wage which he said would put people out of work to a interesting strategic response to ISIL with the recognition that we need to destroy the caliphate. Ted Cruz articulated the reason why we should enforce the immigration laws and he also scored points with his defense of a strong military. Bush seems a little livelier this evening, but he is still pushing an immigration policy that has no real deterrent to illegal immigration.  The open borders contingent probably cheered his answer on that issue, but Cruz had a better argument. The moderators are doing a much better job with questions that focus on policy. Kasich  is more annoying than informative.

NY Times: Cuban Peers Dispute Ted Cruz’s Father’s Story of Fighting for Castro The family narrative that has provided such inspirational fire and biographical heft to Mr. Cruz’s campaign is, his father’s former comrades and friends say, an embroidered one. It is hard to see the relevance of this war of recollections about events that took place before the candidate was even born.  In fact the media showed little to no interest in Obama's bogus claim that he was conceived because of his parents reaction to events in Selma which happened years after he was actually born. I suspect this story will not make much difference to the Cruz campaign and may well backfire on those who want to use it against the candidate.  That has certainly been the case with the battle over Ben Carson's recollections. Ben Carson Fans in Iowa Stand by Their Man and Against the News Media His supporters are shrugging off accusations that he made up elements of his biography, calling them r...

This probably explains why the media is attacking Carson and Rubio so rabidly.

Washington Post: Carson’s claim he stabbed someone is key to his appeal to white voters The GOP candidate's rags-to-riches story resonates in particular with white Republicans because it draws the line between blackness, poverty and violence. Carson's appeal is because he is a conservative and he is a man who overcame his circumstances to succeed.  I have heard the man speak on occasion and had never heard the "stabbing" story before the media started trying to discredit it.   As someone who follows the news closely, I suspect that most of his supporters had never heard the story before the media started trying to debunk it. Carson's real challenge in this race is more about convincing people that he has the leadership ability to manage the government.  The media attacks have probably done more to enhance his appeal because he is seen as someone who fights back against the evils of liberalism and the media that pushes it.