Carson draws excited Conroe crowd
Retired neurosurgeon is polling second behind Trump, gaining ground in GOP race
CONROE — Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson Thursday night drew an enthusiastic standing-room-only crowd to Montgomery County, where he trumpeted his position as a political outsider, never having held elective office.
“The poll numbers show voters are looking at outsiders who are tired of the political class,” he told reporters before the event. “Some have been sitting around sticking their fingers in the air to decide what to say or notch their belt. But voters are looking for integrity. An outsider can offer that,” he said.
A CNN poll on Wednesday showed the renowned surgeon in second place behind industrialist Donald Trump and gaining ground.
Carson attributed his rise in the polls to voters finally beginning to listen to what he is saying, likening campaigning to a marathon and not a sprint. He spoke in a soft manner but drew warm responses from the packed house.
He said some of his critics mistakenly represent him as someone who wants to remove every safety net for the poor. As someone who grew up with poverty and hated it, he dismissed that characterization as untrue.
“I don’t want to continue programs that only create dependency for able-bodied people,” Carson said. “It’s not compassion if we’re not enabling able-bodied people to use their God-given talents.”
Carson told how his mother turned off the TV and had her children read books and write book reports, even though she could not read herself.
He also announced that on Friday he would be visiting Ferguson, Mo., where the death of Michael Brown last year touched off the “Black Lives Matter” movement.
“I want to talk to people on both sides,” he said. “It’s not good to be in different corners and throwing grenades at each other.”
Carson said it’s unfortunate that some people have come to
view police as “inherently evil” when there are a few bad apples in every profession.
Before the event, Dr. Wally Wilkerson, Montgomery County’s longtime Republican Party chairman, said, “I’ve not seen anything that’s drawn this much excitement.”
Wilkerson said the some 1,400 seats that the fire marshal would allow in Conroe’s high school auditorium and an adjoining overflow room sold out weeks ago.
He said a reception was scheduled earlier at the Lake Conroe home of Raul and Jymme Gomez, where campaign contributions from across Texas are coming in for Carson. The campaign hoped to raise at least $50,000.
“There are a lot of people drawn to this guy,” Wilkerson said. “We have people coming to make donations from Harris County, Bastrop, San Antonio, Austin, West Texas, all over.”
Wilkerson, who had a 40-year career delivering babies and making house calls before becoming the GOP chair, said Carson’s medical career could make him a good leader.
“He’s been especially inspirational to single moms and grandparents who keep calling here. They want their kids to meet him and think that this might be something they could do, too,” said Wilkerson.
Carson received his undergraduate degree from Yale and a medical degree from the University of Michigan School of Medicine.
Carson went on to become the youngest director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center in Baltimore.
He also won accolades and awards for being the first surgeon to successfully separate twins joined at the back of the head.
In the past, candidates have come to Montgomery County to hone their speeches and appeal to Republican audiences. The county has elected only Republicans to local offices in the last two decades.
Carson is not the first presidential hopeful to travel to this Republican stronghold to look for votes.
Trump, who had not yet formally announced his candidacy, came to test the waters here in April as the first speaking stop of his campaign in Texas.
Carson downplayed differences with Trump that surfaced earlier this week
On Wednesday, Trump attacked Carson for questioning the businessman’s faith when asked to describe the difference between the two White House aspirants. The retired neurosurgeon said before a rally in Anaheim, Calif., “The biggest thing is, I realize where my success has come from and I don’t in any way deny my faith in God.”
Carson went on to quote a Bible verse from Proverbs about “humility and fear of the Lord” bringing riches and honor and said he didn’t have the “impression” that was what Trump thought.
Trump lashed out in later interviews. He said Carson did not know anything about his Protestant faith and referred to Carson as just an “okay doctor” who had not accomplished that much or created any jobs.