With the midterm elections now over, Americans are now looking ahead toward 2016, and a fresh political face is among the early front-runners for the Republican presidential nomination.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has finished in second place in a new CNN/ORC International poll, behind failed 2012 nominee Mitt Romney, who has consistently said he won’t be seeking the White House in the next race.
The survey showed 20 percent of voters say Romney would be their first choice, but Carson, a newcomer to national politics, was next in line with 10 percent of the vote.
CNN said Carson, “relatively unknown outside of conservative circles – is on the verge of becoming a political phenomenon.”
Carson outpaced more high-profile potential presidential contenders including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (9 percent), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (8 percent) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (7 percent).
Other names in the poll were Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul (6 percent), Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan (6 percent), Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (5 percent), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (5 percent), Texas Gov. Rick Perry (4 percent), Florida Sen. Marco Rubio (3 percent), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (2 percent) and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum (2 percent).
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence each received just 1 percent in the survey, with Ohio Sen. Rob Portman getting less than 1 percent.
When Romney’s name was taken out of the list, Jeb Bush was the leading vote-getter at 14 percent, followed by Carson at 11 percent and Huckabee at 10 percent.
What do YOU think? Who is your top pick for president in 2016? Sound off in today’s WND poll!
Carson has not been silent on hot topics including race in recent days. In the wake of the violence and looting in Ferguson, Missouri, last week, Carson blasted President Obama for making race relations worse during his term in office.
“I actually believe that things were better before this president was elected,” he told radio broadcaster Hugh Hewitt. “And I think that things have gotten worse because of his unusual emphasis on race.”
At the 2013 Values Voters Summit, Carson said Obamacare is “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.”
For Democrats, the poll unsurprisingly had Obama’s former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the top of the list, with a whopping 65 percent of respondents.
She was followed by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vice President Joe Biden at 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively.
When Mrs. Clinton was removed from the choices, Biden jumped up as Democrats’ top choice at 41 percent, compared to 20 percent for Warren.
The poll surveyed 1,045 Americans, including 510 Republicans and right-leaning independents and 457 Democrats and left-leaning independents. The survey was conducted by landline and cell phones from Nov. 21-23.
