Posted on 11/29/2014 6:06:51 AM PST by Kaslin
This column is not meant to endorse Dr. Ben Carson for president, because in my opinion it's too early to endorse him or anybody else at this point.
The vetting process is in its nascent stages, and you don't really know anything about the candidates as potential standard-bearers until you get them out there on a national stage together, and then you can size them up accordingly.
This column isn't even about Carson's looming presidential run. Rather, it's about our response to it as conservatives. Some of which is troubling.
I recently spent a good portion of a Saturday with Dr. Carson. We ate two meals together. One of those was a private lunch, which provided the occasion for a blunt, off-the-record discussion about where the country is at as well as his potential candidacy. I also emceed a fundraiser he spoke at that was packed with key Iowa Caucus activists. So I think I got a fairly good glimpse of Carson's motivations and beliefs.
Carson didn't have any handlers. He came only with his friendly wife Candy, who was very comfortable introducing herself to everyone, and took some time to go and play the violin at a local hospital for some sick kids. If he's a stalking horse for the establishment, which is a theory I've heard posited from some conservatives, Carson did a very poor job of playing his role. He did and said almost all the things the political class says not to do and say, and the crowd ate it up.
Is Carson as winsome a communicator as Mike Huckabee? No.
Is Carson as powerful defending conservative principles as Ted Cruz? No.
Does Carson have a major policy win over the Left like Scott Walker? No.
Does Carson have a track record like a Rick Santorum or a Bobby Jindal? No.
Is Carson surrounded by people who have been preparing to run him for president from the time he first became known like Rand Paul? No.
But what Carson has going for him is a life story that is the very embodiment of the American Dream. As well as a deep desire to end the Left's politically-correct divisiveness, and restore the melting pot of a uniquely American culture that was once our biggest strength as a people.
And that puts Carson in line with how most Americans feel at the moment. They don't like Democrats, and they don't trust Republicans. They don't want the Democrats taking the country any further left, and they don't believe the Republicans will do anything about it. In short, most Americans feel as if they're not represented by either party, and they're tired of being called names just because they disagree with something that's hurting them and their children.
Carson fills that longing Obama first tapped into in 2008 before his Marxism started shining through once he was in office. But while Obama fashioned himself a golden calf for the masses seeking a political savior, Carson earnestly believes that returning to the ideals that turned a black kid who grew up in deep poverty into one of the world's foremost neurosurgeons is our deliverance. Carson wants to use the platform of a campaign not to pander, but to take that message to places most conservatives have either written off or are afraid to enter. His life story of overcoming the odds makes him believe that actually might work.
That doesn't mean Carson should be the GOP nominee in 2016, or that he shouldn't be vetted. In fact, before he spoke at the fundraiser I emceed I encouraged the crowd to look past his exemplary life story and still vet him as they would any other candidate.
But it does mean someone who really wants to be your ally shouldn't be made to be an enemy. While most conservatives are welcoming Carson into the field with open arms, some patriots I really respect immediately jump to his past questionable comments on the Second Amendment. Or his support for Monica Wehby not running as a pro-life candidate in liberal Oregon, even though Carson believes abortion is "murder."
Those things are fair game for thinking he's not ready for primetime, but in case you haven't noticed recently we are lacking for Jonahs willing to go to Nineveh. Heck, we can't even get most Republicans to stand boldly in a room full of conservatives, let alone against the tide of political correctness as Carson is willing to do. Therefore, even if Carson isn't presidential material for you, at the very least he could be a powerful friend in a war for the soul of America that requires all hands on deck.
The harvest is plenty, but the workers are few. Carson has shown up to work while many who claim to be on our side are out to lunch. I say we hand him a hard hat.
She certainly did!
“What an idiotic thing to post, comparing a Governor who was the GOP vice presidential candidate in 2008 and who has 20 years in elective politics and who has held many elected offices and has never run for president, with two people who are fake politicians that want to start at president for their first election.”
Then we agree on Carson.
How you could be so confused about him that you compare him to Palin, is baffling, him and also Buchannon.
We can not want it to happen, but we can do absolutely nothing to stop it, even on FR we fought over every candidate. Until all those wannabees can set down together and decide who and what strategy will have the best shot at winning, we will indeed again have a Romney, Bush, McCain, Dole, candidate.
“...however, this man has gotten to where he is by a very disciplined approach to living with humility. ...”
One thing about neurosurgeons is that they tend to have a great respect for life - even imperfect life - given the nature of their work on injured brains. The humanist Obamacare typical would make neurosurgeons unemployed.
Worked out pretty much the way I said it would. New World Order like father, like son.
“How you could be so confused about him that you compare him to Palin, is baffling, him and also Buchannon.”
Maybe I’m “so confused” in your eyes.
Maybe I’m not “so confused” in the eyes of others.
Given the same alternatives, I'd vote for Bush again.
"I simply reject this whole notion of absolutely positively needing political experience."
Why not? There's really no skill or ability necessary in dealing with a hostile press, convincing the public to support your agenda, or working with a recalcitrant congress. You don't need any of that "prior performance" stuff to inform your decision making.
You are unquestionably confused about the facts of your ridiculous comparison.
Ben Carson sees rights as being given by the government to the people. What the government gives, the government can take away. According to Carson, living in what he determines to be a bad place is enough to lose all of your rights.
Ben Carson clearly doesn’t understand where rights come from (God), or that rights aren’t gifts of government largess.
I would never vote for someone like that - he is either willfully ignorant or is willing to suppresss the rights of the people for his own gain.
Either way, he’s bad news.
Since he agrees with people in those departments and since Carson says that guns don’t belong in homes in crowded areas, he won’t be defunding or firing anyone.
He will work to get more funding for anti-gun programs, not less.
Ben Carson is the anti-2A dream candidate.
your assumption is unfounded. he is not an anti gun wacko that will aggressively work to try to eliminate guns.
He has already said that people in inner cities shouldn’t have guns.
Someone who is informed about the Bill of Rights would never say something like that.
An informed person knows where rights come from - they come from God and are non-negotiable.
Carson believes that rights are given and can be taken by the government. He’s either ignorant or much, much worse.
Anyone who tells you that your rights derive from anywhere other than God is very bad news.
He has had a lifetime to educate himself, and has chosen not to.
At best, he’s going to run on donor cash (other people’s money) as a distraction who wants to increase book sales and speaker fees.
Bad news either way.
I think you missed that you and I agree on the last point.
Oh...well all right then.
My point was that it was, is, and will be possible in the future to have a Republican president with a Democrat Congress, which makes the Presidency important.
If he ends up taking primary votes from stronger conservative candidates, foe.
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