Posted on 11/03/2015 6:39:06 PM PST by springwater13
Carson is doing a lot of things that seem puzzling for a presidential campaign, but quite logical for a brand-building exercise. He is taking weeks off the campaign trail to go on a book tour. His campaign itself is structured much more like a scamming venture than a political one. An astronomical 69 percent of his fund-raising totals are spent on more fund-raising. (Bernie Sanders, by contrast, spends just 4 percent of his intake on fund-raising.) In addition to direct mail, Carson seems to have undertaken a massive phone-spamming operation. Spending most of your money to raise more money is not a good way to get elected president, but it is a good way to build a massive list of supporters that can later be monetized. Perhaps it is a giveaway that the official title for Armstrong Williams, the figure running the Carson “campaign,†is “business manager,†as opposed to “campaign manager.†It does suggests that Carson is engaged in a for-profit venture.
Carson’s combination of flamboyantly reactionary statements and subdued (to the point of appearing medicated) persona lend him an aura of trust and honesty. Carson’s supporters see him as a brave truth-teller; his critics think he’s genuinely nuts. Even those concerned with his methods grant him the presumption of innocence — right-wing commentator Erick Erickson, running down Carson’s astronomical fund-raising costs, frets, “I suspect there are some who see Carson as a cash cow.†But it is a fallacy to imagine that a kook cannot also be a scammer. There is a long tradition of cult leaders, televangelists, and other snake-oil salesmen who were both.
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...
Hit piece.
Wow. Just the first two sentences make me cringe.
Not exactly “journalism.”
Aren’t there restrictions on how money donated to campaigns can be spent?
Great article.
Any scammer would realize actually becoming President would be much more profitable than ending the original scam because you are on the verge of winning the nomination.
Can it be independently confirmed that he’s spending 69% of his receipts on more fundraising? That number would be a potential red flag for me.
Oh yeah. This is an objective evaluation of a candidate and a campaign. Not!! My donation to Dr Carson was followed up with a Thank You and would you consider donating more. That’s it. I get a campaign directions and answers email from time to time. All very much like campaigns of others in the past. Noting hyper. I don’t pay any more attention on hit pieces on Carson than I do on the other candidates.
There have been recent big time hit pieces on Cruz, Trump and Rubio and I feel as though they all are written in the same “war room”.
Neither Carson nor Trump has an organization that can bring folks to the polls or caucus. When is this nonsense season going to end? If either gets to be POTUS, then who do you think they’ll be picking for cabinet positions? Judges? Based upon what? Politics is a skill needed by leaders of large corporations or government. The nonsense claim Trump and Carson are non-politicians is patently ridiculous.
Carson was in Nashville again this weekend. He was in Madison at the Cornerstone church on Sunday. The preacher there was a convict for years before his release. The area is heavily Mex now. Carson was on the news and he talks in whispers. I really do not trust him.
answer no. he has no ground game.
Carson already sold the snake oil Mannatech. Nothing speculative about it. He’s the classic televangelist type, out to create a “flock” of followers he can turn into a personal cash cow.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/armstrong-williams-carson-mannatech-contract
There is no way he can win and he has to know it. I think he’s utterly shocked at how far he’s gotten.
I think this is what Cruz is waiting for.
“Aren’t there restrictions on how money donated to campaigns can be spent?”
Carson is building a base, which, according to this article, will later (after the election) be monetized. No restrictions there.
The presence of Armstrong Williams is a red flag for me. As I recall he got in trouble for taking a quarter million dollars to say great things about the No Child Left Behind Act on his show.
I posted the link to the Youtube video of Carson hawking this snake oil the night he denied it in the debate.
Carson is getting the, “See, I would vote for a black guy. I’m not racist! My kids thought I was when I didn’t support Obama, but I’m not!” vote right now. White guilt.
Good he’s there to shut up the diversity crowd, but he lacks the balls needed to be POTUS.
actually, it's more...
excerpt from The Ben Carson Money Machine --- 'The first fundraising letter went out in August 2013, and in 2014 the PAC raised just over 13.5 million dollars–more than the top Hillary Clinton PAC, Ready for Hillary. According to expenditures analyzed by the Center for Responsive Politics, the PAC then spent about ten million dollars on more fundraising, mostly by direct mail.
What is only whispered within the Beltway is the Carson candidacy is not so much a serious effort to make him president as a fundraising scheme–and a very effective one. A polished team is making millions flogging a hopeless black candidate ...
Mother Jones reports about $2,000,000 of National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee went straight to Eberle Associates. On top of that, the Washington Post and Buzzfeed have noticed that other companies that work for NDBCPCC share an address with Eberle Associates, and are owned by the same umbrella company, Eberle Communications Group.
Bruce Eberle brags about the money he raises. In the closing days of 2011, he wrote a revealingly titled article called The Amazing Herman Cain Money Machine, boasting about the inside role he and his associates played in the presidential campaign of the 2012 black Republican...
Lots was raised for Mr. Cain, and even more can be raised for Dr. Carson, so the people in charge of the operation will have very fat paydays...
from montag13: John Phillip Sousa IV, the man who will likely make $10 MILLION off Carson's candidacy through his 2016Committee (formerly RunBenRun.com) also made $2.2 million raising money for Joe Arpaio's re-election campaign, while only running 2 ads that cost him $150,000 in a race Arpaio won by double-digits.
Sousa is a shyster, but a damn smart one. But Carson was NEVER expected to get this far, and Sousa, Eberle and Co. have won the lottery. Eberle who runs one his pacs also headed Herman Cain's campaign which was a money machine, also.
http://www.amren.com/news/2015/10/the-ben-carson-money-machine/
[The presence of Armstrong Williams is a red flag for me.]
My mother always told me a person is judged by the company he keeps:
CARSON TOP ADVISOR IS PRO-FARRAKHAN
http://consciouslyenlightened.com/ben-carsons-top-advisor-wants-chicago-to-hire-farrakhan-and-the-nation-of-islam/
I read somewhere that Carson and wife are staying in the most expensive hotels when he travels. If you want your campaign money to go as far as it can, you don’t pick the most expensive hotel there is.
Now, this article says:
“An astronomical 69 percent of his fund-raising totals are spent on more fund-raising. In addition to direct mail, Carson seems to have undertaken a massive phone-spamming operation. Armstrong Williams, the figure running the Carson’s campaign, is “business managerâ€, as opposed to “campaign managerâ€. It does suggests that Carson is engaged in a for-profit venture.”
He also took weeks off to travel selling his book. With no ground organization, no workers in states/counties, he’s not running for president - he’s running for money and one can’t spend 69% of the money for making more money as that doesn’t leave enough as you go along to buy/pay for actual campaign expenses to get votes, unless that 69% is immediately bring in more than that.
If he is spending that huge amount of money to make more money, I’d have to know how much money he has in his war chest to see if this is working to give him enough to actually put a ground game together - and he would have to do it fast as time is going away.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.