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.
Exactly. And anybody who thinks that banning guns by zip code is a workable solution is either a liar or a fool.
Self serving political whores play both ends against the middle for their personal advantage. America and Hope are dying under their oppression.
“’The department of who needs firearms’ has determined that your zipcode is too close to a high-risk area. Therefore, the govt will be collecting your firearms next week.”
Yeah, that’s going to work.
Compared to Barbara Mikulski, he's a great conservative candidate....
As President? I dunno. How many US Presidents have there been who did not have political experience and were not military generals?
How is that different from:
"You are wrong, he just does not want guns in the hands of Jews. He has no problem with good Germans having guns."
Yep, but I don’t think Mikulski is going to be the nominee.
He faces a long uphill run to be viable. I doubt he will, but if he does become viable, it’s because he will have answered a lot of the questions that we now have over the period of a year, etc.
He’d be good as the head of HHS.
I’m not buying into skin color politics. I know Dr. Carson has said some things that I can’t agree with, but I also know that he’s on a journey away from democrats.
I respect him.
Personally I have said that I refuse to vote for someone that is pushed to run for president or any other political office. I made to mistake in the 2008 presidential primaries of voting for my former senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson. He quit shortly after that. I believe his heart was not in it or he would have stuck it out longer
Carson seems too mild mannered.
I believe there will serious world crises in the coming years. Whether Carson can deal effectively with an expansive Russia, China, Iran, & the Middle East remains to be seen. Certainly he has no experience in foreign policy, & little executive experience.
People that are really good at what they do are often very bad at other endeavors.
As we have seen in the last few years, a president without foreign policy & military experience can create world instability by simply doing little or nothing to advance Western goals.
I’d like to see Carson get some government experience before he goes for the top job, perhaps as head of HHS or Surgeon General. I’d also like to get a look at how he functions as a government official.
Politics & bureaucracy has a way of turning granite into sand.
Throw out Jeb and the Doughnut Man and you realize the GOP has a very deep bench of capable people who could be president as compared to the Democrats. Personally, I don’t think Dr. Carson is ready for political office. That said, even with his lack of experience and conservative-lite principles he may hold, he’s still a thousand times better than Hillary, Lizzie, or any other Democrat running for the presidency.
Most anyone could be pro that 90%. It's that 10% that separates the RINOs from the true conservatives. He can't follow the Constitution today so he's bound to cave immediately after election.
People have gone from believing that white is always right to thinking that there is something magical about black skin. We will never reach that shore where people are judged by the content of their character without reference to skin color or national origin.
Dr. Carson is on a journey from the dem party to conservative. He’s not presidential material, but maybe one day he might be. He’s an honorable man who’s still learning. He’s got a ways to go, that’s all.
In my opinion, his concept of the Second Amendment is a work in progress, especially the part about “shall not be infringed”. Unless he evolves in a demonstrable way, he is not ready for prime time. Maybe a term as Governor would be beneficial.
Here is the Wikipedia statement on this issue-
“Carson has also expressed some views at odds with most conservatives, such as suggesting that semi-automatic firearms are not appropriate in large cities. However, he has also stated, “There’s a reason for the Second Amendment; people do have the right to have weapons.”[24]”
But not yet. He’s not ready yet, but I truly believe he is learning and evolving into a conservative.
Ok, let’s put Dr Ben to work. But let us not allow him to run for president. The RINOs engineered a coup in 2012 by having numerous conservatives run, which left Romney as the main RINO. We cannot let that happen again.
Ok, let’s put Dr Ben to work. But let us not allow him to run for president. The RINOs engineered a coup in 2012 by having numerous conservatives run, which left Romney as the main RINO. We cannot let that happen again.
But not as president.
And if he does evolve, he evolves. Time will tell. As for the 2nd Amendment, he's not a gun grabber, but he's a bit squishy. BUT really, how important is the office of President to this issue? It's not like any Republican President, who would only be elected in an election with GOP majorities, is going to actually do anything detrimental to 2A rights.
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