There’s something fishy about the Carson campaign strategy that wreaks of ulterior motives

The Ben Carson campaign has been an enigma from the beginning. He is a fundraising machine, but so far the fundraising has been used to promote his fundraising. In other words, he’s bringing in donations in order to get more campaign donations. It doesn’t quite add up.

For full disclosure, I’m a huge Ben Carson fan. He was my #1 choice before it became clear that Ted Cruz had an easier path to victory. As an conservative Christian, Carson was my guy and Cruz was my backup. Now, those roles have reversed. However, watching his campaign makes me wonder if he really wants to fight for the nomination.

As theorized by talk host Ben Shapiro and this article on Media Caffeine, the Carson campaign appears to be building up post-campaign assets. The evidence for this is in his unconventional usage of campaign funds. In a normal Presidential campaign, there are three types of actions as they pertain to money:

1. Grassroots Fundraising: Mailers, email campaigns, social media, and phones are used to get the word out about how people can donate to the campaigns as well as how they can share the message with others who may also be interested in contributing. This last point is pertinent to Carson.
2. Donor Communication: By holding fundraising events for larger donors as well as meeting with wealthy fans who can contribute to both the campaign and super PACs, candidates can get their “big wins” this way.
3. Campaign Efforts: Spend the money. Buy television. Buy radio. Hire staff. Build infrastructure. Hold rallies. This is the ebb in the ebb and flow of campaign finance.

Almost all of Carson’s efforts have been put into the first action. His grassroots fundraising mechanism is impressive, but there’s a huge asterisk. The mechanism is impressive because nearly all of his funds are being put back into the effort of raising more funds. He collects donations so he can spend it on collecting donations.

On the surface, this seems like a losing strategy. His poll numbers as well as his inability to meet even low expectations in New Hampshire are proving this to be true. However, it’s only a losing strategy if you assume that he’s trying to win.

The benefit that comes from focusing all efforts on grassroots fundraising is that it allows a candidate to grow a list. They don’t get to keep the funds they raise once the campaign is over, but they do get to keep the assets they collected through their fundraising. The contacts and email lists that Ben Carson is generating are absolute gold for someone who wants to build an organization after the campaign. It’s what Al Gore did. The organization, media, books, and events that he formed after losing the 2000 election were driven almost entirely by the assets he collected on the campaign trail.

The only logical explanation for the Carson campaign to be using the strategy they’re using is that he plans to build something. It will likely be an organization that acts as a support apparatus for books, speaking engagements, conferences, and charitable funds. He will be able to spread a positive message, build future leaders, and travel the world as an ambassador of righteousness for his philanthropic efforts.

Depending on how you look at the situation, you can either commend him for his brilliant efforts to bring positive change to the world or you can revile him for manipulating the system and giving his supporters false hope. Either way, he might want to be President but that’s only a secondary goal compared to his brilliant master plan.