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Well, I can hear Hillary Clinton now (paraphrasing her quote about then Senator Obama during the Democratic primary season of 2008):
"Now I think you will be able to imagine many things (insert 3rd candidate's name here) will be able to say. He has never been the president. He will put forth his experience. I will put forth my experience. Dr Ben Carson will put forth a speech he made in 2013."
He would be the best candidate the GOP has since Reagan... which means the GOP will find a way to screw it up.
Reagan had politcal experience, that is a starter. This isn't a matter of views only, but other things have to be considered. If he is the right one he will have to prove it. Can you tell us what candidates have run, on the GOP side in the past few elections that should have had the nomination but didn't get it cause the Republicans screwed up?
In my book, NO ONE is ready to become president on the first day. It's a job that everyone has to learn on the job, and the difference is in how steep your personal learning curve is. Frankly, we have no way of knowing how steep that curve is because that news doesn't get out. The president's advisors keep that information in house.
Carson seems to be of at least average intelligence, so the learning curve won't be an issue. The real question is if he knows how the political process works, and common sense says that he doesn't. No way. He doesn't know procedure. And he's gotta be able to work with Congress. Does he even have a foreign policy? If so, what is it?
The guy is a TOTAL enigma. All you know is that he holds some conservative views, but hell, so does half of America. Big deal.
Let's face it...he's a prominent black surgeon that happens to be conservative. Make him a white guy, and he's just another conservative doctor. (shoulder shrug) Certainly he's gotta bring more than that to the table if he's gonna run. The novelty of him being a black conservative doctor with strong opinions will wear off.
BTW...does he get the Republicans a large share of the black or (other) minority votes?
In my book, NO ONE is ready to become president on the first day. It's a job that everyone has to learn on the job, and the difference is in how steep your personal learning curve is. Frankly, we have no way of knowing how steep that curve is because that news doesn't get out. The president's advisors keep that information in house.
Carson seems to be of at least average intelligence, so the learning curve won't be an issue. The real question is if he knows how the political process works, and common sense says that he doesn't. No way. He doesn't know procedure. And he's gotta be able to work with Congress. Does he even have a foreign policy? If so, what is it?
The guy is a TOTAL enigma. All you know is that he holds some conservative views, but hell, so does half of America. Big deal.
Let's face it...he's a prominent black surgeon that happens to be conservative. Make him a white guy, and he's just another conservative doctor. (shoulder shrug) Certainly he's gotta bring more than that to the table if he's gonna run. The novelty of him being a black conservative doctor with strong opinions will wear off.
BTW...does he get the Republicans a large share of the black or (other) minority votes?
I think this is well-stated, and in essence what you are saying that Carson is beneficiary of some affirmative action by conservatives in his rise to political prominence. I would add the caveat that Carson is an exceptional communicator; not every conservative doctor is.
Anyway I have always argued that there is nothing wrong with carefully applied affirmative action, and that R's could and should engage in it. D's have done it for years. Arguably Pres. Obama is an example. He was a lowly former state Sen. with only a couple years in the US Senate when he started running for prez.
I always tell the story of when I was a kid, a Chinese family moved into our all-white neighborhood & my mom went out of her way to invite them over for dinner and try to make them feel welcome, which she probably wouldn't have done for a white family moving in. That was affirmative action and I don't see how it is possibly considered as wrong, or discriminatory.
I think this is well-stated, and in essence what you are saying that Carson is beneficiary of some affirmative action by conservatives in his rise to political prominence. I would add the caveat that Carson is an exceptional communicator; not every conservative doctor is.
Anyway I have always argued that there is nothing wrong with carefully applied affirmative action, and that R's could and should engage in it. D's have done it for years. Arguably Pres. Obama is an example. He was a lowly former state Sen. with only a couple years in the US Senate when he started running for prez.
I always tell the story of when I was a kid, a Chinese family moved into our all-white neighborhood & my mom went out of her way to invite them over for dinner and try to make them feel welcome, which she probably wouldn't have done for a white family moving in. That was affirmative action and I don't see how it is possibly considered as wrong, or discriminatory.
Truth is, that's part of the appeal of being a black Republican; you get to move to the front of the line. That will not happen if you're a black Democrat. You've gotta work your way up past a lot of white establishment Democrats. It's a tougher road to be a black Democrat.
Obama is an exception for a few reasons, but the main one is money. Early on in his career, he was an exceptional fundraiser. When he became a Senator, he was raising a RIDICULOUS amount of money for other Democrats nationally just by showing up and giving a speech. Democratic party elders took notice and thought that they were on to something. If you can raise money, that's some serious value.
Secondly, the Dems were smart enough to look at the demographic shift and draw some conclusions. It has always been said that if we ever had a black president, he'd be a conservative. Like most people, i believed it too (and let's face it, Obama ain't all that liberal regardless of what folks say). It only makes sense to believe that. The Dems realized that nominating Obama was a now or never proposition. What better time to run a black candidate than in 2008? The outgoing administration was unpopular, and the chance that another Republican would win was slim to none. So you run a woman and a black...huge parts of your base. It's a win-win.
That aside, the Republican party is still a great place to be if you're a black conservative. There's no better place to be. You'll be celebrated, folks will hang on your every word, you'll raise lots of money, you get to be on all the top conservative news outlets, Hannity and O'Reilly will have you on every few weeks....and as long as you don't rock the boat, life is good.
Look at Ben Carson. Who knew who he was two hours ago? But he's seen as dissing Obama at a prayer breakfast, and he's on top of the world in conservative circles. Hell, i've seen him on ABC not too long ago. Simply put, Republicans love their black folks.
You can label it as Affirmative Action if you want; that's cool. I mean, i guess it is. But if Republicans claim that they don't have a problem with blacks, but it's actually vice versa, then why act as if you THINK you do? If you want black conservatives in the party as a matter of principle (the idea that the party is open to everyone) then that's fine.
But to wave these people around so as to say "hey African Americans, we really DO like black people," it comes off as lame and unauthentic. You don't have to parade insignificant party members like Mia Love around as if she matters more than she really does. It has an air of desperation about it.
In any case, the Republicans have a right to run the party as they choose. I'm just making my observations.
Just messing with ya! He truly is a man to admire, regardless of the path he takes! BTW, we "rubbed shoulders"---we both attended Cass Tech in Detroit-----God Bless him,whatever path he chooses!
Carson's claim to fame is that he's made a few vague criticisms of President Obama.
That's it. Very few had even heard of him until recently and that was just because of what he said about Obama and now the conservatives are falling all over themselves to prove that he is "one black we could get behind."
Kind of like: "Our blacks are better than their blacks."
I also think it's extremely unlikely that the republican party is anywhere near being able to bring themselves to nominate a black presidential candidate.
The simple answer--No. He's not a career politician, and that's a good thing, but I don't think he has the skill base to juggle congress and tackle an entire facet of issues.
I think he would best serve politically as an advisor on health care of some sort.
Just messing with ya! He truly is a man to admire, regardless of the path he takes! BTW, we "rubbed shoulders"---we both attended Cass Tech in Detroit-----God Bless him,whatever path he chooses!
You're not listening. You're merely hearing a handful of idiotic liberal spewing points.
As for Dr. Carson, too early to tell. He's easily light years better than the fool we have now. But then, so is my dog. In fact, so is my dog's turd.
Everything I've heard him say is the usual talking points. What's so different about Carson?
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He truly is a man to admire, regardless of the path he takes! BTW, we "rubbed shoulders"---we both attended Cass Tech in Detroit-----God Bless him,whatever path he chooses!
