Ben Carson talks of 'leaving' GOP. Big threat to party?
Ben Carson on Friday threatened to bolt the Republican Party amid reports that GOP leaders discussed strategy for a brokered convention at a D.C. dinner earlier this week.
Mr. Carson appeared concerned that the meeting was the beginning of an establishment effort to block outsider candidates from the nomination if primaries do not produce a clear winner.
鈥淚f this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party,鈥� said Carson in a statement, referring to Mr. Trump鈥檚 threat to run as an independent if he鈥檚 treated 鈥渦nfairly.鈥�
According to The Washington Post, a group of about 20 GOP insiders 鈥� including RNC chief Reince Priebus and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell 鈥� met Monday for dinner at a restaurant near the US Capitol. The prospect of a deadlocked convention where Trump controlled a significant number of delegates 鈥渄ominated鈥� the conversation, .
But other attendees characterized the discussion as less a Stop Trump meeting than prudent planning for a deadlock that might actually occur. With Trump maintaining a steady 20 to 30 percent in national polls and at least two or three other contenders positioned for a long run, the prospect of no one emerging from the primary process with a majority of delegates remains real, in this view.
鈥淩eal鈥� is not the same as 鈥渓ikely,鈥� however. The harsh winnowing process of losing primary votes has yet to begin. By March the most probable scenario is that only two candidates, or two contenders with a third lagging behind, will remain. A clear winner should emerge from such a scrum.
鈥淏rokered convention story has swallowed my day,鈥� tweeted Geoffrey Skelley of the University of Virginia鈥檚 Center for Politics on Friday. 鈥淪cenario gets attention every cycle, then doesn鈥檛 happen. Probably won鈥檛 in 鈥�16 either.鈥�
As for Carson鈥檚 reaction, GOP officials maintained that the retired neurosurgeon had simply misread the situation.
RNC spokesman Sean Spicer, appearing on CNN, said the flap was 鈥渟illy鈥� and that 鈥渨e鈥檒l have a great convention. It鈥檒l all work out.鈥�
A Carson third-party bid would be a major obstacle to Republican victory in November 2016.
Carson鈥檚 poll numbers are falling and his campaign is going through a period of disarray. His close friend and business associate Armstrong Williams has that campaign officials have done a poor job helping Carson prepare for speeches and other public events.
But Carson, like Trump, has a committed core of supporters. The ex-surgeon is popular with evangelicals, home schoolers, and self-described very conservative voters. And in an America where presidential voting is almost evenly split between the two parties, even a few percentage points shaved off Republican support in key states could tip the balance of national power.
