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You are here: Home / 2016 Campaign / How Direct Marketing Fueled Ben Carson’s Rise

How Direct Marketing Fueled Ben Carson’s Rise

February 2, 2015 at 10:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard 16 Comments

“If you want to understand the conservative appeal of the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, messages like this, which go out by the thousand on conservative email lists, are the place to start. No prospective candidate’s name and likeness, including the Democratic field-clearer Hillary Clinton, has been as successful in attracting small donations over the last year than that of Carson,” Time reports.

“In addition to his own political action committee, Carson has lent his name and signature to other online efforts, including Newt Gingrich’s American Legacy PAC, where he is the face of a $5.9 million campaign called ‘Save our Healthcare,’ which raises money in the name of fighting President Obama’s health insurance reforms. A separate independent effort, the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, raised more than $12 million in the 2014 cycle through email and direct mail with appeals featuring Carson’s name. That effort, which Carson plays no direct role in supporting, collected more during the reporting period than Ready For Hillary, the SuperPAC run by Hillary Clinton’s former aides to prepare the ground for her campaign.”

“Carson’s online fundraising efforts are so prolific that his own political operation is sometimes not aware of them.”

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Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Ben Carson

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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