To be fair, Ben Carson’s sudden fall from the top of the polls can be attributed to media scrutiny of his past and his lack of preparation on critical foreign policy issues.
However, Donald Trump has not helped by stepping on Carson’s fingers as Carson holds on to the edge of the political cliff.
Yes, Donald Trump, the powerful, well-connected billionaire, is afraid of an intelligent, strong and successful Black man named Ben Carson.
If this is not the case, then why is Trump throwing political mud at Carson after pledging to not attack him unless provoked? Why then has Trump described Carson as “low energy” and chastised voters in Iowa as being “stupid” for supporting him? Why has Trump made fun of Carson’s recollections of life in Detroit’s ghetto, a harsh reality faced by many Americans every day?
It can only be because Carson is a threat to Trump’s ambitions to win the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Recently, Carson and Trump have been running neck-and-neck in most polls.
Also, although Carson and Trump are both political neophytes Carson has more credentials among conservatives than Trump.
According to Breitbart News Network, Carson still has the lead among white evangelical conservatives in Iowa, the first primary state, at 25 percent.
As Club for Growth president and former Indiana Congressman David McIntosh said, “Trump is not a conservative and is barely a Republican.”
All of this apparently threatens Trump, and like a trapped animal he growls and hisses at his opponents when they gain traction in the polls. Ted Cruz could be next on Trump’s menu as he rises.
Candidates with confidence in their ideas and credentials don’t need to attack their opponents.
Since Carson is campaigning on the right, Trump can’t criticize Carson as a radical socialist. So it appears that Trump is using another strategy to try to discredit Carson among white voters, in the same negative spirit that he stereotyped Latino immigrants as thugs and rapists, made sexist comments about women and called for Muslims to be listed in a discriminatory federal directory.
For generations, there have been stereotypes about many Black men going over the top with roughness and being too aggressive. However, Ben Carson defies this stereotype with a quiet strength marked by a calm and easygoing demeanor. He is, after all, a retired surgeon. Instead of accepting this as confident steadiness, Trump has criticized Carson as “low energy.” It seems there’s no satisfying people like Trump when it comes to Black men; for them either we are too aggressive or too low energy. It reminds me of the old saying, “damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”
This column is not the place to debate Carson’s political beliefs or his fitness for the presidency. What is important here is realizing that Carson represents a success story from our community. Even after achieving success he never forgot where he came from, extending scholarships to inner-city students and presenting fresh ideas on combating the high rate of unemployment among African-Americans.
Carson is part of the African Diaspora; an intelligent, strong successful Black man who is married to an intelligent, strong successful Black woman. Whether we all agree with Carson or not, it is in our political interest to make sure the only African-American candidate in this campaign is treated the same as the others.
Another reason why it is important to pay attention to the quest for the Republican nomination is that party may choose our next president, and it is a party that is doing some serious soul searching.
On one end of the party is a group of activists with a fresh view of conservatism who want to see the party grow and succeed in the future. These people, like the Wall Street Journal declared in a recent editorial, are looking for a “new Jack Kemp,” or someone who can effectively reach out to African-Americans, Latinos, women and younger voters. In other words, the same groups of voters that Trump has either alienated or ignored altogether.
On the other end of the party seems to be a borderline racist and xenophobic faction of conservatives who want to keep both the GOP and America stuck in the past. Trump is drawing much of his support from this cesspool of division and reservoir of hate.
Trump seems to be borrowing his strategy from the late Alabama Gov. George Wallace, who sought to win the presidency in the 1960s by playing on racist fears of integration. Another inspiration of Trump may be Jean Marie Le Pen, who almost became president of France in 2002 after a campaign to whitewash Paris and isolate France from the rest of Europe. This year, Le Pen was kicked out of his own party by his own daughter for racist statements.
Wallace and Le Pen were not able to win with subtle racist appeals, and neither will Trump.
Real conservatism, with its emphasis on family values, entrepreneurship and strong national security, can actually be appealing to many African-Americans if it is packaged in a way that addresses our concerns.
Both Trump and Carson need to articulate a message that resonates with Black America if they want our votes. (Who comes to mind here are Marco Rubio, John Kasich and Rand Paul, who have directly addressed the concerns of African-American interest groups such as the Black Lives Matter movement.)
Trump’s strategy may be to do whatever it takes to win the nomination and clean up the mess later in the General Election. However, it may be too late at that stage for Trump (if he is nominated) and the GOP in a battle against presumed Democratic nominee Hilary Clinton, whose efficient, focused campaign could crush a sloppy, last-minute attempt by Trump to reach out to alienated voters.
For Trump to be taken seriously by America in general, he must realize that he will not be able to insult his way to the White House. He should visit the Midwest and learn about GOP leaders like the late Indiana Gov. Robert Orr, former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson and former Indianapolis Mayor Bill Hudnut, each of whom had a sense of humor and radiated an optimistic, unifying brand of conservatism.
Instead of causing division, Trump should play up his credentials as a successful businessman who has generated jobs.
Also, he could become a GOP candidate with appeal to urban America with a specific plan on how to get the unemployment rate to go down faster, address rising crime and spur the growth of businesses who invest in their communities.
Trump could announce such a plan in Gary, where in 1995 his company was one of two that invested in the construction of casinos designed to bring jobs and revenue into our state. He also brought the Miss Universe pageant here in 2002.
These are the things that voters need to hear. Perhaps it is wishful thinking, but prayerfully Trump will one day use the lead he has clawed for to promote issues instead of insults.
Brandon A. Perry is an Indiana-based freelance journalist and political activist.
