A new poll from the Des Moines Register shows that Donald Trump and Ben Carson are tied at 23 percent. Trump must be scrambling trying to determine what effect it will have on his public image for him to attack Carson, especially considering that Carson is known for being very passive and not attacking other candidates.

Just this past week, Trump attacked Jeb Bush. “Jeb’s funding is drying up,” said Trump. “You know why? It’s because he is losing so badly.”

In Iowa, Carson polled with an astounding 81 percent favorability rating. “He is saying the same things that Donald Trump is saying, but he’s a kind, gentle soul,” CBS reported a Carson supporter as saying.

So will Trump see Carson’s favorability as a weakness he can attack, or is Carson exposing a weakness in Trump? Must the far-right xenophobia and fear come with the aggressiveness that Trump offers, or will the Republican party side with a more soft-spoken, but just as backward, politician?