If Donald Trump becomes the Republican nominee, he’ll need to find a running mate that can give the ticket balance. And who better to compensate for the weaknesses of a private citizen with no experience in politics and a penchant for saying strange things than another private citizen with no experience in politics and a penchant for saying strange things?
Such is the argument that Ben Carson’s super-pac is now making, in an effort to justify the good doctor’s ongoing presence in the race.
“Trump, Rubio and Cruz are all destined to lose in 2016 because without Ben Carson on the ticket, they will lose the African-American vote,” reads a recent email to Carson supporters, obtained by CNN.
“The demographics of America have changed dramatically, and that is why Ben Carson must stay in this race,” it continues. “He may not win the GOP nomination, but he still holds the winning hand in this political poker game. If Ben Carson is on the ticket, either as president or as vice president, we can win the White House by winning upwards of 25% of the black vote and 35% of the Hispanic vote.”
Carson has won only four delegates over the course of the GOP’s first four nominating contests and has single-digit support in national polls. So it’s not surprising that his campaign might be looking for a reason to stay in the race that doesn’t rely on actually having any chance at winning.
Although it’s true that Carson has greater appeal among African-Americans than other Republican candidates, it would be utterly insane for anyone to pick him as their vice-president. At most of the Republican debates, Carson has been as eloquent as a college student who took too much Xanax before arriving at an oral exam. And since Carson has never held office, his only experience in political management is his 2016 campaign — a campaign Carson himself suspects might actually be a scam concocted by his aides to enrich themselves.
