Free Republic

PELLA, Iowa - Amid tanking poll numbers and a campaign shake-up, supporters swarmed three Ben Carson events on an icy Wednesday in Iowa, suggesting that the retired-pediatric-neurosurgeon-turned-Republican-presidential-candidate may still have what it takes to do well in the state's kingmaker caucuses. More than 150 supporters showed up in Panora, a small town of just 1,100, and so many supporters gathered at a small Winterset cafe that Carson gave a second, shorter town hall for those who couldn't fit in the room for the scheduled event. More than 350 attended an event in Pella on Wednesday evening, filling dozens of seats...

U.S. Republican Ben Carson's 2016 presidential bid was thrown into chaos on Thursday when his campaign manager and some 20 other staff members quit amid infighting, dropping poll numbers and negative media coverage. Barry Bennett, who oversaw Carson's rapid rise to the top tier of Republican contenders and his later fall, said he quit over differences with another top adviser to Carson, Armstrong Williams. Specifically, Bennett blamed Williams for an interview Carson gave last week to The Washington Post suggesting that the campaign was in disarray. "It's one of the stupidest things I've ever seen a candidate do," Bennett said....