Now that Ben Carson's campaign is over for all practical purposes, the real question becomes: How does he message his defeat?
Some of his supporters are just now getting the memo that he's a loser.
Few of the voters who had turned up for the event could hear the soft-spoken Mr. Carson explain how he is on the upswing in Iowa. Some wandered away in disappointment.
“I thought he would be louder,” said Jody Kunanan, who drove from Ankeny, Iowa, to see Mr. Carson. Still, she remains hopeful that he will somehow pull out a victory in the state next week despite polling in the single digits.
Poor dear. Despite what he's telling the crowds, Carson seems to know how he wants this whole fiasco to be viewed:
“It is much better to do what’s right and lose an election than to do what’s politically expedient and lose your soul,” Mr. Carson said with a sense of resignation during a Tuesday night event that mixed a campaign pitch with a Christian prayer service.
Martyr, for sure. It's a great sell for his next book. All those caucus winners—they're just sellouts! Morally bankrupt. But I did the right thing and died on the hill fighting the good fight. And that appears to be how his supporters want it too.
Many religious Iowans who trudged out on an icy night to hear Mr. Carson said they hoped divine intervention might help him beat the odds.
“We Christians need to get on our knees and pray, and I mean, pray,” Marlene Stemler said. “My heart says, as a Christian, vote for Ben Carson.”