Will this be Ben Carson's excuse to pull out of the presidential race?

No, he won’t quit until he is sure his appearance and endorsement fees are solidified. That’s his whole reason for running.

I think the larger question should be what is his excuse for staying in the race and @zenvelo answered that one.

I’m not sure that he feels the need to bow out gracefully.

I heard a piece on NRP this morning about Rick Santorum. I think Iowa will be the end of his campaign. Iowa has a large evangelical population, which gave him a surprise win in 2012. This year they are going for Cruz. It will be interesting to see how long some of the other candidates who are polling in single digits will hold on.

@LostInParadise A NY Times poll last week showed Trump dominating the field with 42 percent of evangelical voters; Mr. Cruz was second with 25 percent.

Thanks for the correction. I just repeated what I heard on NPR. It makes me wonder how Cruz’s polling numbers can be so good in Iowa. In any event, things don’t look too good for Santorum.

Not so fast @LostInParadise Polls and are polls are rarely unbiased and here is further proof as NBC and Wall Street both are terrified of Trump beating Cruz and low and behold their Poll shows the opposite…

” In the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist poll of the state, Mr. Cruz has 33 percent of the evangelical vote among likely Republican Caucus goers. Donald Trump is at 19 percent among those voters and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is at 14 percent.”

The fact that they polled only “likely Republican Caucus goers” rings of Cherry picking their poll to reflect what they want/need to report.

Now you have me completely confused. Are you arguing with me or yourself? With regard to my original point, whether Trump or Cruz has the larger evangelical vote, Santorum is way behind. Iowans are his kind of people, and if he can’t win there he is unlikely to win anywhere else.

@LostInParadise I was merely speaking to your comment…“It makes me wonder how Cruz’s polling numbers can be so good in Iowa.” Then my quote highlights the value or lack thereof of the polls the media spoon feeds to the public hungry to believe what they want them to believe and that other polls can contradict the other polls and why I said “Polls and are polls are rarely unbiased” So…Cruz’s polling numbers are so good in Iowa or are they?

For what it is worth, I found this article today at Salon. Granted the source has a liberal bias, but I think they make a good case that the Republican mainstream is backing Trump over Cruz. Cruz is the one they are scared of. I am no Trump fan, but Cruz scares the bejesus out of me, too.

@LostInParadise I am a conservative and not a fan of the Republican party one bit. I do side more towards Cruz’s platform pledges but cringe at the thought of another Jr. Senator running our country.

My priorities are regulation reform, tax reform, national security, immigration, health care reform/repeal Obamacare, balanced budget/National debt and the environment. The candidate that presents the platform that best addresses these priorities will be the candidate I vote for.