Ben Carson’s surge to No. 2 in the polls, fatter donations and big campaign-trail crowds are being touted by supporters as proof the GOP presidential contender is a serious in-it-to-win-it threat to win the nomination.

“The press has never taken him seriously,” former campaign manager and current super PAC fundraising coordinator Terry Giles tells The Hill.

“Even up until three days ago, they’d talk about everyone but him. Now they have no choice but to talk about him.”
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Though rival GOP contender Donald Trump dominates national polling, with 26.5 percent, Carson is the only other candidate in double digits, with 12 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average.

But it was the Des Moines Register-Bloomberg survey released last weekend that seemed to seal the deal, showing Carson catching Trump in Iowa, where both notched 23 percent support.

It’s been all uphill since Carson’s understated but strong performance in the first GOP debate hosted by Fox News – and his increased profile is being felt in his war chest, which added $6 million in August, more than twice what was collected in July, The Hill reports.

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Source: Cathy Burke, http://www.newsmax.com/