How Do You Explain Ben Carson's Success in Iowa?

[Joanie Baloney]

36. I saw a report that it was a segment of women in Iowa that drove the Carson surge

They seemed to be in the middle 40's and up age range from the brief video I watched. My theory is that a) he's a doctor and b) he speaks in soothing tones.

Here's a brief snip from a Fortune article:

http://fortune.com/2015/10/23/ben-carson-donald-trump-iowa-poll-women/

A big boost in Carson’s support came from women, who helped push him ahead of Trump, and over two other trailing candidates, Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, both of whom are sitting U.S. senators. Hawk Eye voters had little interest in once evangelical favorites like Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum, both of whom are stuck in the political doldrums, according to polls, despite their Christian credentials.

The Des Moines Register poll’s findings came on the heels of another from Quinnipiac University, where women were sharply in favor of Carson over Trump, siding with him by 20 points, 33 to 13. Men were almost evenly split, with 25% backing Carson and 24% choosing Trump.

and here's the link to the actual Quinnipiac poll released yesterday:

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/images/polling/ia/ia10222015_igv72sh.pdf


-JB