USA TODAY International Edition
Carson campaign to ramp up efforts in early states
Less than three months before voters start weighing in on the 2016 presidential race, Republican Ben Carson is putting his campaign into high gear.
He finished up a tour for his latest book — A More Perfect Union — last week that gave him plenty of exposure to voters, and book lovers, in the South and Midwest but left him little time to campaign.
After a week of stories examining the veracity of his personal history, Carson’s campaign is ready to hit the early primary states hard.
“We’ll start increasing our time in Iowa a great deal,” said Doug Watts, spokesman for the campaign. “But we’re in first or second place in 17 states, and seven of those, we’ve never stepped a foot in.”
His campaign has resonated most with Christian conservatives. After Tuesday night’s debate in Milwaukee, where Carson did little to hurt or help himself with voters, he went to Liberty University in Virginia, the world’s largest evangelical Christian university.
He affirmed his opposition to same- sex marriage and said the next president must work with Congress to pass laws to protect the religious freedom of people who believe marriage is between one man and one woman.
“What we’ve seen recently is the legislative branch, which represents we the people, has been acting like the peanut gallery. The executive and judicial branches are overstepping their boundaries,” he said.
It’s a message that will be key in the weeks leading up to the first- in- the- nation caucuses Feb. 1 in Iowa, Watts said. It won’t be targeted just to religious conservatives.
The campaign is looking to make inroads in African- Ameri- can communities that traditionally vote overwhelmingly for Democrats.
It began airing ads on black radio stations Friday in Miami, Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; Jack- son, Miss.; Little Rock; Memphis; Houston; and Detroit.
“These are traditional African- American, Christian families who don’t really care about a party label,” Watts said.
The campaign will continue to air ads in the first four states holding primaries or caucuses — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — and is buying up radio and TV time in 10 of the 12 March 1 Super Tuesday states, Watts said.
If Carson keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s on the right path, said J. Ann Selzer, an Iowa pollster. “His message is resonating, he’s building an organization here and he’s fending off attacks by other candidates,” she said.
Recent stories that questioned his personal history could have an impact, said Stuart Rothenberg, publisher and founding editor of The Rothenberg & Gonzales Political Report.
“At various times, I thought the stories were really serious, but now, I’m more skeptical,” he said. “If he came across as kind of a phony or a fraud, it might make a difference. But he doesn’t come across as a snake oil salesman. Carson is different, his strength is his earnestness ... and people who like him may be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.”