Recent controversial comments about gun violence, the Holocaust, and whether he would support the election of a Muslim president haven’t hurt Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson in the polls. In fact, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average, support for Carson has surged in the past two months. He came within 3 points of front-runner Donald Trump this week, when just a month ago Trump had a double-digit lead on him.
Members of the 2016 Committee, a Ben Carson super PAC, said that one of the reasons Carson has seen a boost in the polls lately is due to millennial outreach.
Chairman John Philip Sousa IV said that there has been huge millennial turnout at Carson’s recent campaign rallies and speeches.
“Young people are smart enough to know that we need to do something about an $18 trillion national debt, or millennials are going to be taxed to death,” Sousa told Red Alert Politics.
Sousa said the 2016 Committee will be ramping up its efforts on college campuses going into the spring semester.
He also pointed out that the Carson campaign’s social media efforts are putting most of the other candidates to shame.
Ben Carson’s Facebook page has over 4 million “likes” — even beating Donald Trump’s page by a small margin. No other candidate, Republican or Democrat, comes even close to that much support on Facebook.
“That’s not all senior citizens either, that’s millennials who really believe in him,” Sousa said.
Why is Ben Carson’s message resonating with millennials?
Unlike the Democratic candidates, Carson has not offered free college tuition or student loan forgiveness. On the other hand, Carson has suggested students spend a few years working before they go to school to make sure they can afford it.
“There are Pell Grants available for poor people to go to community college already, they’ve existed for years and they’re very effective,” Carson said in an interview with Fox New’s Chris Wallace. “For those who are not poor, there’s a four letter word that works extremely well. It’s called w-o-r-k, work. And appreciate the education you are getting.”
There are some college students who agree with his philosophy on education.
“[Sanders] is not giving away free college, just pushing the bill onto someone else,” said Tanner Beck, a sophomore at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia.
“I think college should be an investment, and if you have to take on debt I don’t think that’s necessarily a negative thing,” he continued. “Right now we have community colleges you can go to for four years with very little debt. If you make the choice to go to a more expensive school and expect to get paid more in the future, that’s an investment.”
Duke University student Harrison Ferlauto agrees with the message as well.
“Carson makes the point that anyone, as long as you have a brain, can achieve anything,” Ferlauto said in an email. “This means that even a poor black student from Detroit can go to Yale if he works hard enough — which is exactly what Carson did. The opportunity is there, it’s just a matter of putting in the effort to take advantage of the opportunity. This may mean having to get a part time job to pay for college.”
Sousa said that in the days ahead he expects Carson to focus on college affordability, at least to some degree.
“I believe Dr. Carson is going to focus on education like a laser beam, and a large part of that is college affordability,” he said. “Does he believe like Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders that we should give education to everyone who knocks on the door? Probably not – but it has to be affordable.”
Carson is not only at a good place in the polls, he is also leading the money race.
According to Oct. 15 FEC filings, Carson raised more money than any of the other Republican candidates.
