An incisive write-up in The Wall Street Journal has exposed a critical weakness in the struggling Ben Carson presidential campaign: horrendous mismanagement of money that had it spending cash even faster than it was raised even at the peak of the campaign’s popularity.
According to documents reviewed by The Journal, in the month of October the Carson campaign took in a healthy $8.8 million, but spent $9.5 million, putting it in a cash hole right as the 2016 primary race is reaching peak intensity. Despite only having $8.8 taken in for October, the Carson campaign also apparently engaged in some sleight of hand, claiming it raised $10 million that month based on an estimate of the money that would be contained in unopened mail the campaign received. Carson spokesman Doug Watts told WSJ the campaign’s spending total was somewhat inflated because the campaign pre-paid for November direct mail and other campaign activities.
But that leads into another concern for the Carson campaign: its spending pattern. Almost all of the money Carson raised, $7.4 million, was spent on simply trying to reach new donors who could give the campaign more money. On the other hand, the smallest line-item expense for the Carson campaign was spending on policy issues and research, which cost just under $25,000 in October. The low spending on policy is notable when Carson’s greatest perceived weakness is a lack of familiarity with policy issues.
The focus on ever-more fundraising came as Carson was peaking in the polls shortly before rapidly descending. In late October, Carson led polls of likely Iowa caucus-goers. Today, he’s languishing in about fourth place, well behind Sen. Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
According to The Journal, donors and top aides are becoming frustrated. Harold Doley, a businessman and former Reagan administration official who held a fundraiser for Carson in early October, accused Carson’s staff of pursuing expensive strategies that simply enriched themselves.
“They didn’t want to hear any strategy other than their own, which is a very expensive strategy,” Doley told WSJ. “It costs 55 cents in the Carson campaign to raise a dollar. So if you look at, ‘Oh, he raised $20 million, what is the net to the campaign?’ Most of that is going out every month in consulting fees to these guys.”
Meanwhile, three weeks ago top fundraiser Bill Millis quit his position with the campaign in frustration after he failed to shake up its leadership.
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