AN INTERESTING sideshow in Iowa on February 1st was the demise of Ben Carson’s campaign. In the state most susceptible to his Bible-infused right-wingery, the former neurosurgeon, who in October and November surged to a double-digit lead in Iowa and briefly led the Republican field, came fourth, with 9%. Polling in New Hampshire puts him in eighth place behind Carly Fiorina, a businesswoman with a patchy record and hypertense style of oratory. He says he is not quitting; he would save himself some bother if he did.
Iowans did not underrate Dr Carson. His surge was fuelled by a remarkable life story—brought up by a semi-literate single mother, he was a medical pioneer—and his reputation as a high-achieving outsider. He fell after both attributes lost their sheen. He was revealed to have embellished parts of his biography: he claimed to have been offered a non-existent “full scholarship” to West Point. He meanwhile revealed himself to be confused by foreign policy, which mattered after a terrorist attack, inspired by Islamic State, in California. Dr Carson’s ignorance of the Middle East was so marked, someone suggested that he thought the...Continue reading
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