Ben Carson’s “no, really, I’m staying in the race” tour continues. After his distant fourth-place finish in Iowa, his eighth-place finish in New Hampshire, and with polls putting him in fifth in South Carolina, Carson is finding himself having to explain the decision not to drop out.
"It's a long race. It's a nine-inning game, we don't call it after the second inning," Carson told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" hosts. "We're going to do just fine and I think South Carolina will be the turning point."
Nine innings, huh? At one state = one inning, that would have Carson dropping out sometime as results roll in on Super Tuesday, which sounds plausible enough, although—as we can see from all the questions about why he’s still in the race—dropping out after those finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire would not be crazy, either.
As for “South Carolina will be the turning point” … there are only six real (i.e., not Jim Gilmore) candidates left in the race. Fifth place is not going to be anything but a downturn.