A pair of outsiders join GOP field for president
Carson, Fiorina tell their life stories, attack Democrats
WASHINGTON — Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson and former tech executive Carly Fiorina — two novice politicians whose attacks on Democrats have made them conservative stars — both declared Monday that they are running for president as Republicans.
Carson, 63, held an event in his hometown of Detroit, taking the stage after several musical numbers, including “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”
“I’m Ben Carson and I’m a candidate for president for the United States,” Carson said. Carson will visit Texas, where his mother is gravely ill, before flying to Iowa to campaign.
Fiorina, 60, made her announcement in a Web video, and an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” After losing a Senate race in California in 2010, Fiorina has relaunched her political career by lobbing attacks at the Democratic front-runner, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. On Monday, her video began with Fiorina watching Clinton’s own announcement — and then raising the remote and turning off the TV.
“If you believe that it’s time for citizens to stand up to the political class and say, ‘Enough,’ then join us,” Fiorina said. “We can do this, together.”
On Tuesday, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee is expected to announce an underdog campaign, fueled by support from the GOP’s religious conservative wing.
Carson, a pioneering black surgeon, began his political rise by attacking President Barack Obama’s health care law — with Obama sitting nearby — at a prayer breakfast in 2013. Fiorina, a pioneering female executive, has relentlessly criticized the most prominent woman in the race.
Because of who they are, Carson and Fiorina can articulate conservative frustrations with Obama and Clinton, while blunting a potent line of Democratic counterattack which is that, if you dig deep enough, some criticism of Obama and Clinton has its roots in racism or sexism.
Carson and Fiorina officially joined a trio of senators — Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida — in the Republican field. In many polls, the newcomers are behind all three of them. They’re also behind two men who aren’t officially candidates yet: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
In his announcement, Carson sought to expand his political persona by returning to his personal story. He was raised by a single mother, graduated from Yale and the University of Michigan medical school, and became the youngest director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, the first black person to hold the position.
For Fiorina, the first challenge will be to raise her poll numbers. She gets only about 1 percent support among Republicans nationally.
“We have time,” Fiorina said with a laugh, during a conference call with reporters Monday morning. “There has been greater reception to my candidacy than I think many might have expected. ... We won’t raise the most money of anyone in the field, for sure, but we’ll raise sufficient money.”
Fiorina is now racing to introduce herself to voters with this simple biography: She started her career as a secretary in a small real estate firm, married a former tow-truck driver and worked her way up to become the chief executive of Hewlett-Packard.
The dot-com boom hurt Hewlett-Packard, and Fiorina was criticized for seeking the public limelight as her company struggled. She was forced out in 2005 and received a $21 million severance package.