Subject: BREAKING NEWS: Two of Carson's top aides resign
From: "POLITICO" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2015 11:41:14 -0600

Two of Ben Carson's top aides have left his campaign after weeks of speculation about a forthcoming shakeup in the retired neurosurgeon's flagging presidential run. 

Campaign manager Barry Bennett and communications director Doug Watts both resigned, effective immediately, on Thursday. "Barry Bennett and I have resigned from the Carson campaign effective immediately," Watts said in a statement. "We respect the candidate and we have enjoyed helping him go from far back in the field to top tier status."

Carson last week previewed such a move, saying that "everything" was "on the table" as far as changes with his campaign. He later walked that back and said "I think the people that I have are spectacular."

The announcement comes as Carson has struggled to halt a dramatic slide in his poll numbers as doubts arose about his grasp of foreign policy issues and the accuracy of his personal narrative. 

Those in Carson's orbit have also raised concerns about his burn rate, even as Carson brings in large sums of money. Bennett had said on Wednesday that Carson's campaign raised around $23 million in the last three months of 2015 - one-upping Ted Cruz's fourth-quarter haul of nearly $20 million.

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