Ben Carson Ends Presidential Campaign at CPAC

BALTIMORE, MD – Two days after pulling out of a GOP presidential candidates debate, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson made it official: he's ending his campaign.

Speaking Friday afternoon to Republican conservaties at CPAC, Carson said he's bowing out of the acrimonious race. He received a standing ovation at the end of his speech.

"I will still continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation," Carson told the crowd.

Carson, who briefly ascended to the top of the Republican presidential field only to sink like a rock in the days before February’s Iowa caucuses, all but suspended his low-key, faith-based presidential campaign already.

Carson will not endorse any of the remaining contenders, Politico reports, but he will support the eventual GOP nominee.

Longtime friend Armstrong Williams told Politico that Carson will likely advocate on global issues ranging from education to the national debt, rather than seek another elected office.

CNN’s Dana Bash reported that Carson has been encouraged by Republican party leaders to run for Florida’s open U.S. Senate seat.

Among the March 1 Super Tuesday states, Carson came in last in Virginia, fourth in Georgia, fifth in Massachusetts, and fifth in Texas, according to preliminary results. In all GOP presidential votes so far, he went 0-15.

The Detroit native who gained acclaim as a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University was an unconventional candidate from the start. His support soared this fall, putting him in the lead nationally by the first week of November.

But Carson finished a disappointing fourth in the Feb. 1 Iowa Caucuses, which Texas Sen. Ted Cruz won, with businessman Donald Trump placing second and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio finishing third.

Carson’s persona kept him largely out of the nastiness that has left mud on the faces — and hands — of all the remaining candiates, save, perhaps, Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

The biggest headlines he made, though, came when he bafflingly announced on Iowa’s caucus night that he was going home to Florida to “get a fresh set of clothes.” Sen. Ted Cruz saw an opening and sent an email to supporters claiming Carson was “taking time off from the campaign trail” and encouraged them to get caucus-goers to vote for him instead.

Carson protested, re-affirmed his candidacy and Cruz apologized.

Carson’s soft-spoken style stood in contrast to his counterparts in Republican debates, where other candidates snarled at moderators, called one another names and bashed critics as stupid or liars.

His strong faith appealed to evangelical Christians, an important part of the GOP base. By early November, Carson led the crowded Republican field, with 29 percent support, followed by 23 percent for Trump, according to an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey.

But, the doctor seemed vague, if not confused, at times on foreign affairs, which hurt him in the wake of the Paris terrorist attacks. In Iowa, the state’s top evangelical organizer threw his support – and voter turnout machine – behind Cruz. Staff turmoil and media coverage of it seemed to add to Carson’s troubles, dropping him behind Trump and Cruz by early December.

At the Jan. 14 GOP debate, Carson even joked about sleeping through parts of the discussion.

“Well, I am very happy to get a question this early on. I was going to ask you to wake me up when the time came,” Carson said when he was asked about fighting the Islamic State.

» Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr / Creative Commons