It's come to this

Carson’s up-from-nothing, saved-by-Jesus-and-personal-effort-only story works, primarily with white Republican voters. It works because for some it affirms the conscious or unconscious connections (stereotypes) they sense between blackness, poverty and violence. For others, it demonstrates that Jesus saves. And for others still, it is a narrative that says other, potentially costly social solutions to poverty and violence are not necessary. It says that small government can work.

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Here is the  data which hints that Carson’s Horatio Alger-like story with a dash of violence appeals to white voters and why. The information below, some of which is admittedly a bit dated, comes from a CNN/ORC poll, the General Social Survey and Washington Post and Pew Research Center polls. Note the way distinct groups respond to the questions.

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