Ben Carson’s campaign manager believes that Governor Scott Walker (R., Wis.) dropped out of the presidential campaign prematurely, but says that won’t happen to the celebrated neurosurgeon-turned-presidential contender.

Walker forgot the lesson of former governor Tim Pawlenty’s (R., Minn.) decision to drop out after losing the Ames straw poll in 2011, according to Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett. “I was surprised. I knew things weren’t going well,” Bennett told National Review’s Rich Lowry during a discussion at Google headquarters. “I think that the lesson that a lot of folks learned from Pawlenty getting out too early last time was, don’t give up, you’re going to hit rough spots. But, apparently, he’s giving up.”

Bennett allowed that it would be “ridiculous” to offer a guarantee that Carson will win the nomination, but he projected confidence throughout the discussion, describing a robust digital-advertising and fundraising operation that has harnessed a considerable amount of grassroots support.

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And, for all that his boss has a reputation as a soft-spoken protagonist in the GOP field, Bennett took a series of jabs at Donald Trump. “In a field of 15, maybe 14, candidates – looking, sounding, talking, and behaving different is very important,” he said. “It distinguishes yourself from the rest of them. . . . I’ll take two hours of national TV time of him standing next to Donald Trump, any day.”

#related#Carson’s debate successes had translated into a powerful social-media operation, according to Bennett, who said that Carson earned 200,000 extra Facebook fans after the first debate and had gained another 900,000 in the days following the CNN debate. “We’​re at 3.7, 3.8 million right now,” he said. “It’​s three times more than Hillary, 15 times more than Jeb, and we will be above Donald Trump — who accumulated his after three years on The Apprentice — we’​ll go past him this week.”

And although Trump and Carson are both running as political outsiders, Bennett emphasized Carson’s humility. “There’s certainly some commonalities in our supporters, but I think Donald Trump is our best contrast and we’re glad to continue the contrast,” he said.

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