Ben Carson: The opposite of Trump | McClatchy Washington Bureau

Ben Carson is the opposite of Donald Trump, TheIowaRepublican.com finds.

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon who’s maintained solid grassroots support throughout the year, is an outsider who’s not sought elective office before, as is Trump.

But Carson is quiet, understated and has had supporters building an organization for months. Trump, of course, is brash, blunt and is only now building a political network.

Carson spent the weekend in Iowa, site of the nation’s first presidential caucus, and drew big crowds.

Here’s the take of Craig Robinson, TheIowaRepublican’s editor-in-chief, talking about a Carson event:

“This event has to be one of the best campaign events that I have attended this calendar year. As I listened to Carson and observed the attendees on Saturday night, three things came to my mind.

“Ben Carson is the antithesis to Donald Trump. Both Carson and Trump draw huge crowds, both are outsiders, and both have been wildly successful in their careers, but when it comes to demeanor and the type of people they are reaching, it couldn’t be more different. That’s a good space for Carson to occupy.

“Carson already polls well in Iowa and across the nation, but I think it’s safe to say that the polls probably under-represent his actual support here in Iowa. His campaign events indicate that there is a lot of interest in his candidacy where ever he goes.

“Carson’s message, while it’s not long on specifics, not only connects with people but it also inspires.

“The Carson campaign doesn’t seem to get the same amount of news coverage as the other campaigns do. That is probably frustrating to his team, but running a presidential campaign under the radar isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”