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.
He might be a brilliant guy and a fantastic surgeon, but he hasn’t demonstrated the ability to run a town council, much less the United States. I would like to see some executive experience at a state level before he runs for president.
I agree wholeheartedly. Were it not for the color of his skin, he’d be ignored. As a conservative, the first thing I look at when people oooo and ahhhhh about a black Republican is just exactly what is all the fuss about.
Frankly, before the election, there were some articles of his with which I highly disagreed regarding voting for go-along, get-along RINOism, and I stated such. Even after finally relenting to SOME deference re: Republican vs. Democrat in any election, I still harbor a deep distrust.
This distrust goes all the way back to Colin Powell, the darling of Republicans in the 90s and 00s - until Obama. THEN we saw his true colors.
Color alone does not a candidate make - not ever. That’s how we got Obama.
I believe he is FOR more gun control and if that is correct, he’s definitely off my list of prospectives.
Great minds think alike don’t they?
____________
We do don’t we?
“You are wrong, he just does not want guns in the inner cities.....”
The problem with that is if my home is “in the inner city” I have just as much right to protect myself and my family as any one in any other area.
I can’t support anyone who doesn’t have a track record of voting on issues that are important to conservatives. He should’ve run at least for HOR this time around. At this juncture he’s a great possibility to be Surgeon General.
Dr Ben Carson is a Great American and deserving of serious consideration for POTUS. He has a voice and message America needs to hear.
Yeah, an all-around shallow piece.
Carson should be welcome as a soldier to the cause, but if he insists on seating himself in the cockpit of a fighter plane he’s not qualified to fly, it is right that folks stand up and intercede.
Too many ill-qualified, unconservative (his position on amnesty disqualifies him on that count alone), vanity candidates get lured into GOP presidential primary runs—for the certain benefit of the GOPe. Carson is one of those, he attracts conservatives who are overeager to support him in an inappropriate role as a means of disproving the racism charge that gets thrown at all of us.
Yes. The last couple of times I’ve seen him interviewed, he seemed to be hesitant to stand firm. He was hedging what he was saying, showing, IMHO, weakness. I think, as fine a man as he seems to be, he is too wishy washy.
The last thing the country needs is for more lost-cause candidates to splinter the conservative vote. The GOP doesn’t need him up there on the GOP primary stage doing just that in order to show liberals how ‘inclusive’ we are.
And that's where the train comes off the rails.
So true, and this is why I don't really like those "scorecards" by American Conservative Union, etc - because there's no weighting built in to them. And then there's more than just issues. There's the public relations issue. For example, McCain and Graham are not good conservatives, but they are far more awful for the anti conservative anti Tea Party voice they support.
yeah, that gun control issue is a blind spot for him.
Actually, it’s a blind spot for a lot of doctors and a lot of cops who are otherwise pretty conservative. They see guns do bad things all the time, so they are reflexively pro gun control without thinking it through.
BTW, that’s not an excuse - just an observation
I see. Amazing that some people think like that and still consider themselves conservatives. Probably think some guns are bad and others are good too, and that the police are our friends.
He is an intelligent man who is bringing a lot of thoughtful debate to the fore front and hopefully he is getting the attention of some black voters. He will surely find a niche in which he can bring some improvements to the country but, he is not a person I can see as POTUS.
We’re killing ourself with this “political experience” thing. It’s been my observation that the longer you are in office, any office, the more isolated from reality you are.
Some people can lead and some cannot. How long they’ve run “a city council” is hardly an issue. Did Reagan run a city council? His first office was a Governor of California, which would be the same as being President of most of the world’s countries.
Talent, not length of government service, is the deal. Now, does Carson have that talent? Probably not, but I’ll not fall prey to the knee jerk assumption you have to work your way up from “dogcatcher” step by step. No President ever started anywhere near the bottom.
Been there, done that.
As long as he defunds and fires all of the depts. now dedicated to considering "gun violence" a medical situation for doctors to inquire about, etc.
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