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