While Donald Trump gets most of the attention, he’s not the only Republican experiencing a summer surge. Ben Carson is seeing some of his best poll numbers.
A recent Fox News poll had Carson in second place nationally at 12 percent, behind Trump at 25 percent and ahead of Ted Cruz at 10 percent. But can he sustain this momentum as the primary calendar draws closer? “I didn’t expect this quick of a trajectory, and I certainly don’t want to become the front-runner this quickly because you don’t want to peak too early, so were actually in a pretty good spot right now,” the 63-year-old retired neurosurgeon told a Des Moines Register reporter.
“This burst of attention won’t matter much for Carson unless he can turn it into campaign dollars and infrastructure in early states beyond Iowa,” editor of the Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report, Nathan Gonzales said.
“This campaign is a marathon, not a sprint, and Carson needs turn this initial attention into campaign dollars and infrastructure that extend further into next year,” Gonzales added.
Prior to the first Republican debate Carson polled at just 7 percent, but his closing statement seemed to resonate with many voters. The ex-neurosurgeon joked that some Washington politicians seemed to have had parts of their brains removed. The field’s only African-American candidate said he saw what mattered about people more than skin color while he was practicing medicine.
Carson and Trump both appeal to disgruntled voters who are tired of the system. “Carson could definitely be beneficiary of a Trump implosion,” political analyst and Republican strategist Ford O’Connell said. “But he can’t count on that. But right now he has to gain the news cycle and do well on debate performances and capitalize on the media cycle.”
“He’s shown himself to be a far more durable candidate than many people would have thought but the again there’s’ been nothing logical about this primary so far,” O’Connell said. “What’s going for him it`s that he’s seen as the most likeable and the most principled candidate so far.”
For now, Carson will ride this sudden wave of popularity, and hopefully, his campaign’s infrastructure can keep up.
Carson raised $8.3 million in the first quarter of campaign fundraising, and over $10 million between his campaign launch in March and the end of the first quarter. His Super PAC, National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, also raised about a million dollars. But he has less than 15 full-time staffers and no previous campaign experience to lean on during the primary season.
“The key right now for these guys who say they are anti establishment and different, but running a campaign is not. Without having boots on the ground and volunteers it won’t work,” Republican strategist and Bush White House aide, Brad Blakeman said.
“Time will tell if he’s able to turn this popularity into reality and reality into votes,” Blakeman added.
