GOP campaigns ponder: Is it safe to attack Ben Carson?

Even before Ben Carson shot to the lead of the Republican presidential race in Iowa, rival campaigns from Donald Trump down began grappling with the question: How to defeat the genial, soft-spoken, African-American brain surgeon who has quietly captured the imagination of so many GOP voters?

The answer: very carefully. “I don’t think we run against Carson,” said a strategist for a GOP campaign over the weekend. “He’s just so well-liked that it is tough.” The problem, of course, is that if Carson remains atop the polls in Iowa, and sits in a solid second place in the national polls, other candidates will likely feel compelled to go after him.