In one respect, Mr. Carson is the antithesis of the crude and boisterous Mr. Trump. In tone and style, Mr. Carson comes across as calm, reasonable and agreeable. But in fact he is more rhetorically intemperate than even Mr. Trump.
.. Mr. Carson had expressed concern that if Republicans didn’t win control of the Senate in 2014, “there may be so much anarchy going on” that the 2016 elections couldn’t be held.
.. As a result, the usual ways voters judge a candidate — experience, governing achievements, mastery of issues — have been devalued. People are looking for candidates not only to give voice to their anger but to amplify it. Reason has given way to demagogy. In a political context, Mr. Trump and Mr. Carson represent the id rather than the superego, not just in what they say but in how they perceive the world around them.
Can Republicans Stop Needlessly Alienating Large Chunks of the Electorate?
The Constitution is not just a legal document. It is a didactic one. It doesn’t just set limits to power; it expresses a national ethos. It doesn’t just tell you what you’re not allowed to do; it also suggests what you shouldn’t want to do.
.. Trump’s contretemps with women enjoy even more renown — his attacks on Megyn Kelly (including a retweet calling her a bimbo) and his insulting Carly Fiorina for her looks. Muslims, Hispanics, women. What next? Who’s left?
Inside the Carson Campaign’s Dominance of Social Media
Carson’s 4 million Facebook followers easily best Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s 1.5 million, and put him ahead of every other Republican candidate. Donald Trump can claim 3.8 million, the next highest, but he has had a Facebook page since 2009. Carson’s was launched in September 2014. Fellow outsider Carly Fiorina registers just under 500,000, and establishment candidates Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Chris Christie all hover under 300,000.
.. It’s a strategy that Bennett says has allowed the campaign, which once relied exclusively on rented e-mail lists, to build an original e-mail network of over 2 million names.
.. For Bennett, social media is even more crucial in a Republican primary where the sheer number of candidates has made television advertising all but obsolete. He sees Carson’s use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as a way to “get through the clutter” and speak directly to the campaign’s target audience.
“If you’ve been following the latest ‘controversy’ over my comments about Islam, you know the arrows are out for me,” his Facebook post reads. “I will need your help to push back. . . . I want to raise $100,000 TODAY to show America that we will not be silenced by the PC Police.”
The Soft Bigotry of Ben Carson
He mixes political critique with Christian theological messaging to rake in quite a bit of money on the lecture circuit. As Politico reported in July, Carson “brought in nearly $2 million delivering inspirational speeches to faith-based groups like Christian high schools and pregnancy centers in 2014,” with speaking fees ranging “from $12,320 to $48,500.”