As election time rolls around, many people are starting to display their opinions of who they would wish to elect as the next president of the United States of America. As of now, the Democratic nomination is between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. On the Republican side, it is between Business Mogul Donald Trump, Senator Marco Rubio, and Senator Ted Cruz. Recently, Ted Cruz won the Iowa Caucus, reeling in 27.7% of the Iowa voters, with Trump and Rubio pulling 24.3% and 23.1% each respectively. Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has received 9.3 percent in this latest Wall Street Journal polling, which is raising some eyebrows among poll watchers; wasn’t Ben Carson receiving high remarks not too long ago? To answer this question, yes, yes he was. Dr. Carson was pulling 27 percent support from Iowa Republicans in the fall. Many now wonder, what happened to Ben Carson’s chances?

Many pundits dub Barry Bennett as one of the main reasons Carson’s campaign is plummeting. He was the former campaign manager for Dr. Carson, though he recently left to join Donald Trump’s lobby. Bennett reportedly told U.S. News that he questioned the retired neurosurgeon’s readiness for the White House. Since leaving, Carson’s polling numbers have fallen by double digits. Although Bennett’s departure was detrimental, many, including Carson, believe it is not the main reason Carson has lost ground.

When Ben Carson was personally asked what went wrong by CNN, he said, “A lot of things happened. Paris happened, and San Bernardino happened.” This is an allusion to his rookie title on the political spectrum, and lack of foreign expertise compared to folks such as Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. Carson claims he knows a lot about foreign politics, however, his resume says otherwise. Dr. Ben Carson is from Detroit, Michigan, having received a degree in psychology from Yale and his M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School. The majority of his career was spent as a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he completed his medical residency as well. As far as his foreign platform goes, it is a very typical pro-war, for a conservative. His novice schema on this issue is held primarily responsible for his fall in the polls, as Americans have exponentially became more worried of international threats and yearn for a new president who has a concise, promising foreign policy. To rebuttal this, Carson says, “It is important to remember that amateurs built the ark and it was the professionals that built the Titanic.” Could there still be hope in Carson’s vouch for candidacy?

Although many viewed Ben Carson as the shoe-in for the republican nomination at one point, his hopes have slid down a slope. His enticing persona may not have been enough to assist his executive desires, but it did answer one question pertaining to who will be the next president of the United States and leader of the free world. The next Commander-in-Chief must have a strong plan and background in tackling foreign dilemmas to sway over the American public’s support.