Why Carson Scares the Media - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
Why Carson Scares the Media
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The media, having failed to stop Ben Carson’s steady rise in popularity by treating him like Ralph Ellison’s “invisible man,” are now going nuclear on him. The number of press attacks launched on Carson has recently increased exponentially. And, significantly, the barrage has been far more vicious than any criticism directed at Donald Trump or the other GOP presidential aspirants. The GQ assault titled “F*ck Ben Carson” is only exceptional for its vulgarity. Countless columns, articles, broadcasts and blog posts have portrayed him as “stupid,” “insane,” and even “racist.” The media clearly fear Carson more than the other Republicans. Why?

The answer is in the latest polls of registered voters. It’s not just that Carson has closed the gap on Donald Trump in the race for the GOP nomination. What really scares the media is that, in hypothetical general election match-ups, Carson consistently beats the probable Democrat nominee—Hillary Clinton. According to Real Clear Politics, most surveys of registered voters conducted since the beginning of September show Clinton losing to Carson in the general election. One shows Carson winning by 7 points. The opposite is true for Trump. Most polls covering the same time period show Clinton beating “the Donald” with ease.

This would be less frightening to the “reporters” of the MSM if their 24/7 coverage of Trump had been successful in preventing him from being overtaken by Carson in the race for the Republican nomination. The latest Fairleigh Dickenson survey of registered voters, released last Thursday, shows Carson at 22 percent with Trump clinging to 26 percent. The findings of this survey are consistent with other respected polls. In fact, a recent survey from IBD/TIPP—which enjoys a stellar reputation for accuracy—showed Carson 7 points ahead of Trump. A recent NBC/WSJ survey showed the two candidates in a statistical tie for the lead.

All of which means that it is becoming increasingly plausible that Carson will beat Trump in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, and that he will go on to defeat Hillary Clinton in the general election. This would make him, to paraphrase Rupert Murdoch, our first black President. For the establishment media, which is for all intents and purposes the public relations branch of the Democratic Party (i.e. the party of white supremacy), this is a terrifying prospect. Even worse, he would be the first real conservative to occupy the Oval Office since Ronald Reagan. And, like Reagan, he would reverse many of his predecessor’s idiotic policies.

This is why these “journalists” have changed their strategy. Now that they know Carson won’t go away if they simply ignore him, they will try to bring him down with a classic campaign of personal destruction. And they will not temper their “reporting” with the truth about his character or his beliefs. Thus, they have deliberately misrepresented Carson’s positions on Obamacare, Islam, the Second Amendment, Planned Parenthood, the Holocaust, illegal immigration, ad infinitum. Meanwhile, they have studiously ignored the racial slurs to which he has been subjected, including being called a “coon” by an Ivy League professor.

But Dr. Carson could not have risen from poverty to the pinnacle of a very select profession, much less become a serious contender for the presidency, if he didn’t possess a pugnacious streak. Thus, last Friday, he took the fight to the media at the National Press Club. And, in a refreshing change from the usual pusillanimous Republican approach to the press, he didn’t equivocate. Using the way his own words have been repeatedly distorted as an example, he told the scribblers that they are destroying their own credibility: “I got to tell you guys, that’s why people don’t trust you anymore. I mean you’re down there with used car salesmen.”

He also reminded them of the “sacred obligation that they have to the people to be honest,” pointing out that journalism is the only business explicitly protected by the Constitution and why: “It was because the press was supposed to be an ally of the people. And they were supposed to expose and inform the people in a nonpartisan way. When they become partisan, which they are, they distort the system as it was supposed to work.” He went on to say that the American people increasingly resent partisan journalists: “I mean the good thing is that a lot of the people in America are onto them and… that’s one of the reasons we’re doing well.”

In other words, the more the media pile on, the more favorably Carson is viewed by voters. But the geniuses of the press have no intention of taking advice from a mere brain surgeon. In fact, they have responded to Carson’s speech as if he had launched an unprovoked attack on them. The event was reported in the Hill, for example, under the following Orwellian headline: “Carson Declares War on the Press.” And the article goes on to suggest that Carson’s remarks, which were calmly delivered in his usual circumspect style, amounted to little more than paranoia: “Carson lashed out at the press… he believes his views have been misrepresented.”

And the beat goes on. Saturday, the Boston Globe ran a piece titled, “Carson proves daft, disturbing—and darling of the GOP,” which offered this brilliant insight: “If not for his amazing, up-from-nothing story, his career as a neurosurgeon, and his race… Carson would be dismissed as a crackpot.” This is the kind of stupidity that sometimes causes him to chuckle when talking to reporters. Only a media dunce could fail to see that his “amazing” success story is what makes it obvious that he isn’t “daft.” That Carson, whose IQ is probably twice that of the average journalist, exhibits such patience with these people is added proof that he’s no crackpot.

Nonetheless, that’s the party line, and the media will continue to push it hard. These people are worried. They know that, if Carson gets the GOP presidential nomination, he will almost certainly beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. So, they will try to keep Donald Trump afloat until the primaries with lots of free media and softball questions, while continuing to crank out the “Carson is Crazy” stories. But, as Carson pointed out at the National Press Club, the voters are onto them. This time, they’re not going to let the media pick our next President.

David Catron
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David Catron is a recovering health care consultant and frequent contributor to The American Spectator. You can follow him on Twitter at @Catronicus.
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