Howard Dean, M.D., former presidential candidate and former head of DNC, did had political experience, but in a relatively small state. Senator Tom Coburn was a doctor when first elected to Congress and has continued to keep his license active. Rand Paul is a doctor who did not run for the junior Senator position until his father ran for president and he participated in speechmaking.
You named a Congressman, a Senator, and a career politician/Governor, Carson should try something like that first before running for leader of the free world as his starting point.
Howard Dean’s long political career:
“In 1982, he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives, where he remained until being elected lieutenant governor in 1986. Both were part-time positions which enabled him to continue practicing medicine. Dean won re-election as Lieutenant Governor in 1988 and 1990.
On August 14, 1991, Dean was examining a patient when he received word that Governor Richard A. Snelling had died of sudden cardiac arrest. Dean assumed the office, which he called the “greatest job in Vermont.” He was subsequently elected to five two-year terms in his own right, making him the longest-serving governor in Vermont’s history. From 1994 to 1995, Dean was the chairman of the National Governors Association.”
After decades in elective office, Dean ran for President in 2004, and in 2005 became the DNC chairman.
I think you misunderstand me. I’m not saying doctors haven’t gotten involved in politics.
I’ve just never seen a random surgeon, or anybody else, touted as a viable presidential candidate after a few uplifting speeches.
Not that I’m a huge fan of a long career in public service as a necessary credential for presidents.
Arguably one of the few presidents with less such experience than Obama was ... A. Lincoln. Who turned out to be a pretty darn effective leader.