David Plouffe, Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, suggested Wednesday that Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson should be taken seriously.
“I find it interesting Carson is getting dismissed, but here’s someone who’s leading in all the polls, is building a huge following, has a lot of social media skill, apparently a lot of grassroots support that should materialize,” Plouffe said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
{mosads}”I think sort of in the Acela corridor there’s a dismissive approach to Carson and Trump, but they’re both sitting there, if you combine them, over 50 percent in most national polls, they’re the strongest leaders in most early states,” Plouffe said.
Carson has surged in polls the past couple months to the top of the GOP field, overtaking Donald Trump for the first time since mid-June in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Trump has recently gone on the offensive against Carson, who has surpassed him in Iowa, suggesting the retired neurosurgeon lacks the temperament to be president.
Both men have never held elected office and are leading a crowded Republican presidential field that includes multiple senators and formers governors.
But with the Iowa caucuses in early February closing in, Plouffe suggested that Carson may continue to have a large backing as voters head to the polls.
“He’s very strong, and I don’t think his support is going to drop from 30 [percent] to 10 [percent] overnight,” Plouffe, who is now an executive with the ride-hailing service Uber, said on MSNBC.
“I think he’s going to be a force throughout this,” Plouffe added of Carson.