FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  December 16, 2013

For more information contact: John Philip Sousa, IV 860-604-7300

Ben Carson Draft Effort Proceeding Full Speed Ahead!

According to John Philip Sousa IV, National Chairman of the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, “Apparently there has been some confusion in regard to a story about the Committee and its relationship with Dr. Ben Carson.  The truth is, nothing has changed whatsoever.  Dr. Carson stands by his earlier statement on FOX News to Greta Van Susteren that he will not “interfere one way or another” with the efforts of the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee. 

Earlier this year, Dr. Carson was asked by New York Times reporter, Trip Gabriel, if he was going to run for President.  This was Dr. Carson’s response…

“Certainly if a year and a half went by and there was no one on the scene and people are still clamouring, I would have to take that into consideration. I would never turn my back on my fellow citizens.”

Like George Washington, Ben Carson seeks to hear the American people call him to this high office.  Appropriately, Dr. Carson has not disavowed the work of the Committee, nor has he endorsed the work of the Draft Committee.  And, on no occasion has Dr. Carson said that he will rule out running for President. 

The Committee does not seek Dr. Carson’s endorsement or approval, but rather seeks to do just two things…

  1.      Convince Dr. Ben Carson to run for President of the United States by generating millions of “clamorings” from across America.  We believe Dr. Carson is the only candidate who can win in 2016, the only candidate who will heal and unite America, and that he is a proven problem solver who will follow the United States Constitution.
  2.     Create an unmatched, technology driven, nationwide grassroots organization that will lay the groundwork for winning both the Republican nomination and the White House in 2016.”

“By law a draft committee cannot be officially affiliated with the candidate, especially not a super PAC.  The Carson Draft Committee is not officially affiliated with Dr. Ben Carson, just as the Hillary for President draft committee is not affiliated with Hillary Clinton.  Nevertheless, the work that this Committee is doing is absolutely critical to a Ben Carson victory in 2016.”

“Without this Committee, there will be no grassroots organization similar to the one established by the Barack Obama team that worked for more than three years to win the 2012 election.  Today, presidential electoral politics is not like it was just a few short years ago.  At that time a candidate for President could decide to run in the election year and have a genuine chance of success.  That is no longer true today as the past two elections cycles have proven.  If a candidate for President is not building an organization, recruiting volunteers, raising money, and establishing a solid high tech organization well in advance of the first primary, it is a losing effort.

For example, Collision 2012 by Dan Baltz describes the situation in Ohio in 2012. 

“The gap between the Obama and Romney operations crystallized in the key battleground state of Ohio in the closing weeks of the general election campaign.  Members of Obama’s team had been on the ground in Ohio for years.  They knew the state intimately.  Obama had at least 130 offices there, plus 500 or so staging areas for volunteers.  He had almost 700 staffers on the Ohio payroll alone.  Thousands of volunteers contacted voters.”

John Sousa continues, “Why did Obama have 700 staffers and 130 offices, while Romney had just a skeleton organization?  The answer is that the Obama team worked for more than three years raising funds, building software, and creating a powerful grassroots organization.  The 2016 election will be an exact replay of 2012 if the Republican candidate does not have a powerful grassroots organization bound together by state-of-the-art software.  And, if the candidate doesn’t do it, someone else must.  That someone else is the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee.”

“The work of the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee is just in its infancy.  However, we have raised more than $1 million from thousands of contributors and we have many thousands volunteers nationwide with more signing up each and every day.”

“In order for the Committee to succeed and in order for Dr. Carson to win in 2016, we must have the active support and help of every American who wants to elect Dr. Ben Carson President in 2016.” 

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