Ben Carson blog #3

When you type in Ben Carson into Google the first thing that comes up is the Ad section and it is his official web site, https://www.bencarson.com, next comes up the In the News section, and then under those two section are the hits that Google comes up with. First is Ben Carson's Wikipedia page, then his twitter page, then his official campaign page and lastly his Facebook page followed by news articles he is mentioned in.  I found it interesting that they appear in a Google search in that order.

Starting with Ben Carson's official campaign website, the first thing that comes up when you click on it is a page that says, endorse me and ill send you a bumper sticker. I know a lot of people who like free things so I do not think this is a bad idea.

After you click on to the website it has tabs on the top that say, Ben Carson's Story, Ben on the Issues, Ben on the Road, Events, Volunteer, and one that says More..., there is also a support tab and a store tab. If you do not click a tab and instead scroll down you will see a hash tag AskBen that you can use to directly ask Ben Carson any question.

 After that is an "I'm with Ben" section that is a feed of pictures of people supporting Ben. Then at the end there are links to all of his other social media accounts. I found his website to be very easy to go navigate, engaging with pictures that are not on his other forms of social media, and thorough because he talks about a lot of issues and his whole background and many more common questions.

Ben Carson uses his twitter account in many ways. He a lot of time retweets other people talking about him or saying where he is and what he is doing. He will also retweet clips of him speaking at events. What I really liked about his twitter feed is he is still talking about issues that matter to him and not just trying to promote himself and what he is doing. He also never talks negatively about other candidates or supports people who do. I think this is an important part of his media presence and his media image because most of the candidates use social media to bash other candidates. He comes across on his twitter very nice and real.

 

His Facebook page is refreshingly not the same as his twitter account or his website but has its own content to it. He asks people to email him questions and talks about his day including where he spoke, what happened, clips of him speaking and other things. He also writes back to things that people are saying about him or responses to negative press. An example of this is a long post about his response to a Muslim candidate for President. He uses Facebook for long responses and thanking the public and I think he does a really good job of having original content and using it to respond in a longer format.

Ben Carson also uses Instagram. This is again original content with not a lot of over lap. It is compiled of pictures of him at events, him with his family, him on the campaign road, when and where he is speaking, people supporting him and other things like that.

I think Ben Carson uses all of this social media accounts very well. I especially like that they are all different so you feel the need to look at them all. I also like how much he talks about the issues but at the same time how he seems like a real person but posting family pictures and backstage stuff. I think what he could do to make his social media presence better is maybe get a snap chat because he did not advertise that he had one on his website or if he does have one to add that on there as well.

blog 2

Ben Carson image is based a lot on the fact that he is a neurosurgeon whether he wants it to be or not. He is known for being raised in poverty and by a single mom, this helps his image of empathy. His image is also based on his passion for learning an education, he is know for the scholarship he gives out as well as the reading rooms he establishes in schools. He is also known for being a strong republican because of his stances on issues like abortion and small government. On his website he talks about how the government started with we the people and we need to go back to that and not have a government trying to run the people. I also think people see him as not having a lot of government experiences and that is part of his image as well both positive and negative. His campaign slogan is, Heal * Inspire * Revive. Those three words play into his image of being a doctor, strong leader, and him wanting change in the government. Ben Carson's image is also that of avoiding the spot light and having a soft-spoken voice. He is trying to convey that he is not a typical politician.

I think to make his image stronger he should speak up more. I have read his book, One Nation, and know his ideas and stances on issues and think that he should advocate for them harder. I also think he should talk more about the numerous awards, degrees and certificates he has gotten over the years. He might not have the most political experience but he has business experience, pubic speaking experience and many more qualifications that make up for lack of political experience. I think for his image he needs to sell those previous things harder and let people know about all the stuff he already has done and the many relationships he already has in Washington.

Ben Carson, like every candidate, has strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.

I would say Ben Carson's strengths are the fact that he does not have a background in politics because people seem to be reacting very positively to non-traditional politicians this campaign. In response to not having experience Ben Carson said, "I see it as a drawback if you want to continue going down the pathway of government controlling every aspect of our lives," he said. "I don't see it as a problem at all if somebody wants to re-establish the original intent in this country, which was a nation where the government conformed to the will of the people and not vice versa."

Another one of his strengths is that he is soft spoken and at the same time speaks his mind no matter who is he talking about. An example of this is when he criticized Obamacare at the National prayer breakfast a few feet away from Obama. He has been quoted saying, "We need people who are not afraid to express themselves and who are not afraid to debate issues."

Another strength is his immense knowledge of the healthcare system since he has been a doctor for many years and people trust what he has to say. Going off of trusting him, people see him and trust in the American dream again because he came from poverty and became a famous doctor with hard work and dedication.

At the same time some of his strengths can be weakness, like lack of political experience. Joel Sawyer, a GOP strategist said, “When you don’t have a record it can be your biggest strength and your biggest weakness.”

Some people really like his lack of experience and some people do not. Some people also think he is too reserved and shy to make a strong leader.

An external threat that Ben Carson has is that the media is not paying much attention to him. The media likes to talk about people who are stirring up the pot and causing drama and since he is more soft spoken the media has chosen not to focus as much on what he has to say.

Ben Carson has many opportunities in the community. One of them is that he can reach the minority group, which is something most republicans have a hard time doing. Another group that he can reach is the poor community and he can empathize with them since he grew up poor, they trust what he has to say. He also already has a group of people that like him because of his books and what he has said in them. This makes for an automatic support group. Lastly he has an opportunity to make people believe in the American Dream again because he is a text book example of it.

The issues that Ben Carson focuses on are more economic than social. Ben Carson said, "I have likened America to a ship that's about to sail off Niagara Falls," he said. "And the social issues are like little barnacles on the side of the ship. There are a lot of people leaning over the edge saying we got to get that barnacle. No, we have got to turn the ship around. Until we get things moving in the right direction, get the economy moving ... bring people out of poverty ... deal with our energy resources in an appropriate way, get education back where it belongs ... those are the issues that are critical. The social issues as far as I'm concerned they are personal issues for most people." He also has a large focus on education and children because he believes education is what turned his life around

Ben Carson blog #1

The candidate I chose to examine is Ben Carson, who is a republican candidate. Ben Carson, like many others, grew up in a poor - single parent home in Detroit. His mom had a big impact on his life and career path. She always made him strive to do better by making him read books and doing book reports on them. From that he got a love for learning and went on to go to Yale University. After Ben graduated he became an X- ray technician, school bus driver, bank teller and other odd jobs. After that Ben Carson got accepted into The University of Michigan School of Medicine. From there he did his residency training at John Hopkins University Medical Center. Ben Carson then directed pediatric neurosurgery at John Hopkins Children Center for 29 years. Now he is also the founder of the Carson Scholars Fund. He and his wife started this fund in 1994 and it operates in all 50 states and has awarded more than 7,500 scholarships.

Ben Carson has little strictly political experience but has many awards, degrees, and has sat on many boards.

Some of these include:

• ·      2001 CNN and TIME Magazine as one of the nation’s 20 foremost physicians and scientist

• ·      2001 selected by the Library of Congress as one of 89 “Living Legends.”

• ·      2004 appointed by President George W. Bush to serve on the President’s Council on Bioethics 

• ·      2006 Spingarn Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP.

• ·      2008 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush, the highest civilian honor in the land. 

• ·      67 honorary doctorate degrees

• ·      Member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society

• ·      Member of the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Science

• ·      Member of the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished American 

• ·      An Emeritus Fellow of the Yale Corporation, the governing body of Yale University.

• ·      Sat on the board of Kellogg Company

• ·      Sat on the board of Costco Wholesale Corporation

• ·      Sat on the board of Academy of Achievement

• ·      Spoken twice at the national prayer breakfast, 1997 and 2013

• ·      Writer and author of eight books; Gifted Hands, America the Beautiful, Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great, and One Nation, What We All Can Do to Save America’s Future

Ben Carson is qualified to be the next president for many of reason. He is a very well rounded person being an author, doctor, businessman and many more. I think will all of this awards, and other business ventures he has shown qualities needed for a president. In this book, One Nation, he discusses many issues facing America and what he thinks he can do to make them better. He has a clear plan for many of the issues. Also in his book he talks about how people have asked him to run for president because of his ideas and views. On the Ben Carson for President website he lists the main issues he thinks are important to deal with right away. They are:

• ·      Protecting Innocent Life,
• ·      Balanced Budget Amendment,
• ·      Education,
• ·      Keeping Gitmo Open,
• ·      Health Care,
• ·      Keep Faith in Our Society,
• ·      Russia and lessons Learned,
• ·      Protect the Second Amendment,
• ·      Stand by Israel, and a
• ·      Better Tax Code.

What is essential to know about Ben Carson is how explains his decision to enter politics, In his book America the Beautiful, he says, "I believe it is a very good idea for physicians, scientists, engineers, and others trained to make decisions based on facts and empirical data to get involved in the political arena".

To learn more here is a link to Ben Carson For president 

https://www.bencarson.com/issues