Running for president is good for business. Since retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson formally launched his presidential campaign on May 4, his brand has become a hot commodity.
A prolific author, Carson’s books have started flying off the shelves. The Washington Examiner has learned that sales of his most recent book, One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future, have more than quadrupled since his campaign announcement, when comparing the Nielsen BookScan hardcover sales numbers for the period ending May 3, 2015, with the period ending May 10, 2015. A New York Times bestseller that spent five weeks at number one on the hardcover nonfiction list, One Nation has gotten a second wind.
One Nation‘s life-to-date sales dwarf former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s memoir Hard Choices. The Washington Examiner has learned that through May 10, 2015, Carson has sold nearly 360,000 hardcover books total, while Clinton sold slightly more than 265,000 during the same time period. Carson’s book was released on May 20, 2014, while Clinton’s book came out on June 10, 2014.
Carson’s brand appears to have exploded online as well. Carson led all GOP candidates in terms of “Facebook interactions,” defined as posts, comments, likes, and shares, in the week after he announced his presidential bid, according to ABC news. While both Carly Fiorina and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee announced their candidacies in the same two-day period as Carson, on May 4 and 5, the Baltimore doctor blew the competition away. Carson garnered 2.2 million interactions between May 6 and 12, while his next closest competitor, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, accrued approximately 1.3 million interactions.
While Carson will seek to translate the buzz about him into voters’ support, he will also look to capitalize on it financially. While the Washington Speakers Bureau has deleted mention of Carson on their website, they still appear to be involved in arranging paid speeches for Carson. Philip Patlan, an event manager at the Washington Speakers Bureau, told the Washington Examiner he believes Carson is still under contract with the bureau.
And the bureau has helped arrange an upcoming paid speech for Carson in Dayton, Ohio, this September, according to Paul Coudron, Dayton Right to Life’s executive director, who has organized the event. Coudron told the Examiner Carson accepted the group’s invitation to speak at “Viva la Vita,” a fundraising event for the pro-life group, last year.
“Things have changed in the meantime, and we weren’t totally unsuspecting that there could be change, and so our challenge now is to keep it a pro-life event,” Coudron said. “He obviously at this point cannot accept fees personally and does not intend to, but rather will make them available probably to his foundation or to a not-for-profit foundation.”
Coudron said that Carson’s speaking fee is “under $50,000,” and that the candidate requested that his group provide “speaking points,” for him to address in his remarks. The Carson campaign did not respond to requests for comment and has not indicated how it plans to collect the cash or what it intends to do with it.
While Carson is not the first presidential candidate to continue making paid speeches after launching a campaign, it is unusual. Huckabee delivered paid speeches during his 2008 presidential campaign, saying, “unlike people who are independently wealthy, if I don’t work, I don’t eat.” Huckabee, author of God, Guns, Grits, and Gravy and other books, landed a television show at Fox News after failing to secure the GOP nomination seven years ago.
Several other former contenders have advanced their careers or developed new ones after running for president. Herman Cain, former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza and 2012 GOP presidential candidate, replaced conservative radio host Neal Boortz on his syndicated talk show. Cain also continues to give paid speeches via the Washington Speakers Bureau. Hillary Clinton reportedly earned $30 million in the past 16 months from her own speaking engagements. The former secretary of state and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have amassed more than $125 million since hopping on the speaking circuit in 2001, according to the New York Times.
Carson led a recent Fox News poll, tied with Bush, as Republican voters’ top choice. However, just 13 percent of Republican voters’ support was needed for Carson to secure that top spot. Carson has raised $5.9 million from 113,000 separate donations since March 3, as the Washington Examiner’s David Drucker reported.
As the race heats up, Carson may fizzle out. Since making public remarks that drew widespread criticism, Carson has maintained a lower public profile. Carson gained attention on CNN earlier this year for saying homosexuality is a choice, and citing sex between men in prison as an example. A GQ profile that indicated Carson had struggled to grasp Israel’s system of government while preparing for a trip to Israel has hurt him among people who already viewed his inexperience on foreign policy as a liability.
Whatever his standing in the polls, there seems to be a market for what Ben Carson is selling.
