Ken Berwitz
It\’s hard to say who\’sleading on the national level because some polls show Ben Carson ahead whileothers show Donald Trump ahead, with wide differentials between polls. But on the state level, Ben Carson is beating Donald Trump in too manystate polls to be ignored. He is leading in North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, Wisconsin, and Iowa. That\’s impressive. It\’s well-known that he\’s doing well withreligious conservatives in Iowa, but now it looks as though he has appealthroughout the South and other Midwestern states.
Meanwhile, in NewHampshire, Carson is neck and neck with Trump, only 2% behind him in a recentpoll. In Pennsylvania he is only 1 point behind Trump.
It looks as if Trumpis slowly losing voters to Carson.
What can Trump do torebound? He has tried casting doubt on Carson\’s religion. He hastried having plenty of book signings. In an interview recently he said hewas going to replace Obamacare with “something much better.” Who wouldn\’t want to vote for someone who is going to institute a “something much better” health care system? He also promises to “quickly and brutally cut the head off ofISIS.” I\’m for cutting the head off ISIS. Let the head-cuttingbegin!
Unfortunately, thatdoesn\’t seem to be enough for voters.
-If it goes smoothly, he will be seen as an amusing entertainer. Is that what we want for a President? If so, why not Jerry Seinfeld or Ray Romano?-If it goes poorly – and that very much includes a possible in-studio audience insurrection (I\’m betting there will be one or more incidents) – Trump will be bashed in front of the country. And if his “talent” (some would use a different word) for engaging in petty fights and escalating them kicks in, which it is odds-on to do, it will show him to be just a rich jerk who has neither the intelligence, common sense or temperament to lead a country – something a great many people have concluded even without the SNL appearance.
