Posted on 11/04/2015 6:18:09 PM PST by Amntn
Ben Carson's presidential campaign is many things. A curiosity, an oddity, a fascinating yet disturbing commentary on today's Republican Party? Absolutely. But there's also some reason to believe that it's a giant confidence game.
That isn't to say that Carson isn't genuinely trying to become president. He has even moved into the lead in a couple of recent national polls. But the inner workings of his campaign will look awfully familiar to those who understand how one right-wing movement has been bilking gullible conservatives over the last half-century.
Like many outsider candidates, Carson is relying on small donors to raise money - lots of it. He took in over $20 million in the third quarter, more than any other Republican (though less than Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders). But he has also spent much of it already. As of the end of the third quarter, he had raised $31 million but spent $20 million, almost two-thirds of the haul, an unusually high "burn rate."
Spending lots of money early in an election isn't necessarily bad, if you're investing it in things that will be valuable for you later. If you have a big staff in Iowa, for instance, presumably they'll be organizing activists, persuading voters, and putting in place the infrastructure you'll need to get your supporters to the caucuses.
But that's not where Ben Carson's money is going.
(Excerpt) Read more at theweek.com ...
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 dollarsââ¬âmore 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 schemeââ¬âand 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/
And I think you put that exactly right...Bush had a hard time speaking, obuma came out and was very ‘articulate’ and swayed the people....
What I don’t understand is why nothing was done in the second election on voter fraud...he simply did not win that race...the people were upset with him by then...
True Romney was a lightweight and couldn’t handle him, but still...
I just wished Trump would have gone in when Romney went in, he would have steamrolled the idiot and our Country would have been set up to perfection today!!!
I just ran across a story that said Trump’s campaign is no longer self funded. He is accepting donations.
The article stated that according to FEC filings a vast majority of the money Trump spent this summer (3.7 million in unsolicited donations) came from donors unlike when he had first started campaigning when he spent 1.9 million.
The article link from the NYT so I looked for other sources.
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-october-campaign-finance-report
There are other links out there if you search. The FEC filings are public I believe.
these are unsolicited from individual donors - the average is 50 bucks,trump has talked about this often, donations coming in with letters and that he wouldn;t send them back. you’re going to have to try harder next time.
Mr. Trump revealed in a filing Thursday to the Federal Election Commission that the vast majority of the money he raised and spent this summer as he rose to the top of national polls came not from his own coffers, as it had in the spring, but from about $3.7 million in what he called âunsolicited contributions.â Some 74,000 donors pitched in an average of about $50 to help his campaign, he reported.
A ton of those were the purchase of his hats, which is reported as a donation.
Trump said he shut down the PACs using his name. He mentioned the one supporting Carson was spending 80 cents of every dollars on raising money and the people that owned it. Only 20 cents was going to actually campaign. Seems like a nice racket setting up a PAC!
exactly, carson is building his brand and making friends rich.
A campaign files reports and tells where the money went.
Who runs these PACs and where are the reports on where the money went?
If a donor finds out 80 cents of his dollar went to ‘overhead’... there should be accountability.
Hey, if I have the chance, I’ll buy a hat.
Who runs these PACs and where are the reports on where the money went?
If a donor finds out 80 cents of his dollar went to âoverheadâ... there should be accountability. Wh runs these PACs and where are the reports on where the money went?
this opensecrets link has some vert disturbing info ... 82 percent fundraisung, 2 per cent campaign expenses.
https://www.opensecrets.org/pacs/expenditures.php?cmte=C00548420&cycle=2014
And what would be the reason for him doing that?I await your reply
So you’re admitting you have a problem with black, right?
Pitiful.
So youâre admitting you have a problem with black, right?
Pitiful.
Wow. When I saw those images, I saw the etherial, religious overtones. You saw the color. What does that say?
agreed. He will fade soon.
Didn’t I mention that the 3.7 million donated was not solicited? I think I did. I also mentioned what the average donation was. I wasn’t trying to DO anything except offer information. I’m sorry if I missed the part where he donated the money to charity as he doesn’t accept donations. What charity was that?
I know he has appeared at fundraisers like that auto dealer who ran a fundraiser for him at his mansion in August. Donald Trump appeared and spoke at that event. I don’t know how much money they raised if any but Donald did know that people were paying to get in and it didn’t seem to bother him any.
You can check things out at FEC.gov where there also is a list of donors and the amount they donated.
I keep reading how Trump’s campaign is self funded. As we can see that is not entirely the case. If the money was accepted and spent by the campaign he is not entirely self funded.
I’m only reporting what was reported to the FEC. I don’t care if the money came from selling hats, fundraisers held by supporters or little old ladies. If he accepted it and spent it on his campaign he is accepting donations and not entirely self-funded.
I don’t believe media anymore and there seems to be a lot of people thinking that way like “Construction man on Rush today” To change my opinion the candidate has to say something I disagree with.
“Itâs a smear campaign by the left and youâre falling for it.”
So, none of the information in the article is factually true, just made up stuff that everyone should ignore?
This is what I thought was going on and it is sickening.
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