Ben Carson announces he is ‘leaving the campaign trail’

(Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty Images)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The socially conservative doctor whose inspirational biography and deeply held faith galvanized the red blood of America this past fall officially announced that he is leaving the campaign trail Friday.

With characteristic earnestness, Ben Carson assured the crowd at the American Conservative Union’s 2016 Political Action Conference (CPAC) that he would keep fighting on behalf of “we the people” — albeit not as a contender for commander in chief.

“I’m hopeful that some people, now that I am leaving the campaign trail …” Carson said before pausing. The crowd was audibly upset before rising to its feet with thunderous applause for the job he’s done so far.

Carson continued, “Even though I might be leaving the campaign trail, you know there’s a lot of people who love me even if they won’t vote for me, I’m still going to be heavily involved to save our nation.”

Carson’s formal announcement at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center that he was turning the page on this chapter of his political career did not come as a surprise.

After disappointing Super Tuesday results, the doctor-turned-politician released a statement saying he would not participate in Thursday night’s GOP debate in his hometown of Detroit and said he he no longer saw a political “path forward.”

Earlier on Friday, Carson announced that he had taken the post of national chairman for My Faith Votes, an organization focused on mobilizing Christian voters.

“Nothing is more important to me than my personal faith, and it is my faith that motivated me to be involved in the political process to begin with,” Carson said in a video statement posted to the group’s website Friday.

“I believe Christians in this country can easily determine the next president of the United States and all other national and local leaders, should they simply show up at the polls,” he said.

Early on in the race, Carson’s mild manner and quiet disposition distinguished him from the overcrowded GOP stage. The Republican primaries have been defined (or marred, depending on your perspective) by bombastic personalities, radical ideas and grade school-level insults. He’d have his share of head-shaking quotes, but that came later.

Increasingly frustrated with establishment politics, the Republican electorate embraced political outsiders such as Carson, real estate magnate Donald Trump and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina.


By Michael Walsh.
Culled from Yahoo News.