GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson to hold rally in Phoenix area
Aug 17, 2015, 7:57 AM | Updated: 2:02 pm
(AP Photo)
(AP Photo)
PHOENIX — Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson will address a crowd in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday night. Conservative Valley political expert Stan Barnes said Carson had one of the best nights of any candidate during the first GOP debate and that’s because everyone who sees him likes him.
“Everyone who hears him likes what he has to say. His demeanor is comforting and evokes knowledge. He’s unwilling onstage to get down to the name calling or confrontational level,” Barnes said.
“What holds him back is that he’s never held office and it seems he can’t jump right to the presidency with his soft spoken and intellectual manner.”
Carson’s visit to the Valley follows stops made by two other presidential candidates — fellow Republican Donald Trump and Democratic hopeful Bernie Sanders.
Barnes said Carson was dealing with the same questions facing front-runner Trump: Do they have the experience and temperament to lead the nation?
“Carson is the opposite of Trump. Trump is ego with a braggart nature that suits the chief executive. Ben Carson just doesn’t have that. He’s brains, honesty and intellect.
“But he seems to come up short on specific skills needed to run the country and do battle with the constituents, Congress, the courts and other countries and everything that goes with being the president.”
The rally starts at 6 p.m. at the Convention Center at Third Street between Van Buren and Washington streets. The gathering outgrew its original venue, Grace Community Church in Tempe.
Each of the Valley appearances by the trio of candidates has had to be moved to a larger site.
Besides visiting Phoenix, Breitbart News reported that Carson would take a helicopter tour of the border between the United States and Mexico on Wednesday.
