Most endorsements don't matter; Carson's endorsement of Trump matters a lot

I realize that, most of the time, voters are not strongly influenced by endorsements from newspapers, former candidates, etc. That’s one of the reasons I haven’t made one myself. You want to vote for the candidate who speaks to you, not the candidate who speaks to me. It’s one thing to make a strong argument on behalf of a candidate – that might get someone thinking – but the idea that you’re more likely to vote for someone because he or she was “endorsed” by someone seems pretty silly. Most of the time. Ben Carson’s decision to endorse Donald Trump seems like a very significant exception to that rule. And it’s not only because of who Ben Carson is and what he’s already experienced. It’s also because of what he said in making the endorsement.