Meet Ben Carson: First Republican to Throw His Hat in 2016 Ring (no announcement)

[CPUd]

The only real similarities between Herman Cain and Ben Carson are the groups funding their "draft" campaigns.

 

[francisco]

...That being said, I'll agree that Carson won't win the nomination. While he has a lot of passion behind him, he doesn't have the infrastructure or experience necessary to mount a serious campaign. So instead of trying to beat down someone who isn't going to win, wouldn't it be much wiser to develop a coalition with his supporters? There is so much crossover appeal between him and Paul. Way more than him and Cain.

Well said.

He did NOT show up out of nowhere. YOU just didn't know about him. Hell, they made a movie about him more than 5 years ago based on his 1990 book.

Please. I beg you. End your ignorance. Read a couple of his books.

The reason you are just hearing about him politically is because of the prayer breakfast, but he's been around for a long time writing and speaking in terms of opportunity and achievement. Having read a couple of his books, I got a sense of where he stands. I'm not with him 100%, but he's certainly on our side.

Correct. Ben Carson even had a mention (circa 2007) on the acclaimed TV drama The Wire: a young ghetto kid (seemingly doomed given his drug-ridden environment) identifies Carson as his role model and says he wants to be a neurosurgeon, too.

 

[Crashland]

Ben Carson's mere presence in the GOP primary would undermine Rand Paul's efforts to change the image of the GOP. It's not entirely his fault, but when Democrats and minorities get reminded of the completely unprecedented overreaction of the hard right which originally shot Carson to the political forefront, they will remember the bad crust and will run in the other direction.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

Ben Carson announces prez run

releases 40 min video about his life.

-t

 

[cindy25]

he should run for the senate. MD has a seat up in 2016

 

[A Son of Liberty]

This is the "pro-life" doctor guy who is also in favor of bombing thousands with an aim toward killing a few, right?

 

[RandallFan]

Ben Carson's mere presence in the GOP primary would undermine Rand Paul's efforts to change the image of the GOP. It's not entirely his fault, but when Democrats and minorities get reminded of the completely unprecedented overreaction of the hard right which originally shot Carson to the political forefront, they will remember the bad crust and will run in the other direction.

I dont think Carson would attract that many more black voters than any other candidates. Any blacks who go towards the GOP are mostly doing so because Democrats are failures.

 

[Crashland]

I dont think Carson would attract that many more black voters than any other candidates. Any blacks who go towards the GOP are mostly doing so because Democrats are failures.

I agree. I'm not saying he would attract black voters at all. Black voters would run the other way because they don't want to be associated with all the people who instantly fell in love with him when he did what he did to Obama at that breakfast.

 

[r3volution 3.0]

I have no idea why Carson reminds you of Herman Cain... The only common denominator I see is both are black.. Don't tell me you're a racist? Look at their educational backgrounds and employment backgrounds. Carson does know the U.S. is not comprised of 57 states... something Obama doesn't know; nor Herman Cain.

I'm going off my seat waiting for you to explain why Carson reminds you of Herman Cain.

As I said:

Ugh, I'm sick of hearing about this guy.

Reminds me of Herman Cain (not, not because he's black! because he's a joke candidate with no chance whatsoever).

But, that doesn't mean I hate the man. He seems okay personally.

 

[philipped]

I really like Carson and hoping Rand might consider him as a running mate.

Ben Carson, Scott Walker, Susana Martinez or Thomas Massie.

 

[jmdrake]

This is the "pro-life" doctor guy who is also in favor of bombing thousands with an aim toward killing a few, right?

Wrong! Ben Carson is more anti-war than Rand Paul.

 

[jmdrake]

in terms of politics, yes.. there are a lot of similarly popular people who would be called long shots and jokes in the same position..

Carson was asked to speak at the Whitehouse prayer breakfast because he already was a household name. Your "media creation" argument would make sense if Obama had been a republican president or Carson had given Democratic talking points. But since it's unlikely that Obama was in on making himself look bad, I don't think your analysis holds water. He's no more a "media creation" than is Rand Paul. Rand was unknown in politics until he got involved with politics. I agree that jumping straight from no career in politics to running for president is a bit of a leap. I disagree with the "media creation" meme. It just doesn't fit.

 

[Crashland]

Carson was asked to speak at the Whitehouse prayer breakfast because he already was a household name. Your "media creation" argument would make sense if Obama had been a republican president or Carson had given Democratic talking points. But since it's unlikely that Obama was in on making himself look bad, I don't think your analysis holds water. He's no more a "media creation" than is Rand Paul. Rand was unknown in politics until he got involved with politics. I agree that jumping straight from no career in politics to running for president is a bit of a leap. I disagree with the "media creation" meme. It just doesn't fit.

Ben Carson was a household name before the prayer breakfast? I don't know anyone who knew who Ben Carson was before the conservative media hype. I mean, he was quite an accomplished person that's for sure, but he was not even close to being a household name. There are probably a thousand other people with awesome success stories comparable to Carson, who no one knows about right now because they are not a black person who embarrassed Obama on national TV and immediately raised up as a conservative media darling..

This is why Carson is bad for Rand's outreach. Whether it's true or not, the perception is that Carson was pushed to the top by a bunch of racist Republicans. And personally, I think there's a kernel of truth to it.

 

[jmdrake]

Ben Carson was a household name before the prayer breakfast? I don't know anyone who knew who Ben Carson was before the conservative media hype. I mean, he was quite an accomplished person that's for sure, but he was not even close to being a household name. There are probably a thousand other people with awesome success stories comparable to Carson, who no one knows about right now because they are not a black person who embarrassed Obama on national TV and immediately raised up as a conservative media darling..

This is why Carson is bad for Rand's outreach. Whether it's true or not, the perception is that Carson was pushed to the top by a bunch of racist Republicans. And personally, I think there's a kernel of truth to it.

Maybe you are much younger than I am. But when Ben Carson separated twins joined at the head he was an international celebrity. It was like Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon. Seriously, nobody believed it could be done. His "Gifted Hands" was a best seller. Cuba Gooding Jr. played Ben Carson in a movie. If you don't know anyone who had heard of Carson before the prayer breakfast you seriously need to expand your circle of friends.

Edit: Seriously. Everybody pushing the "media creation" line needs to watch this before you say something like this to the wrong person and make yourself look really stupid.



They don't make movies about "conservative media creations" long before the conservative media discovers the person.

 

[philipped]

Watched the movie last night.......Cuba Gooding Jr. never fell off smh lol

 

[PAF]

Carson has never held an office, therefore has no record to refer to, and folks here of all places are promoting him to the highest office of the land. If Carson WAS true to Liberty, he would know full well that Rand has served us well with a record to match and get behind him.


- Ben Carson was raised a Democrat, but became a registered Independent. Only recently and for his bid for presidency, he registered Republican.

- Ben Carson: “I voted for George McGovern enthusiastically along with multitudes of young people, all of us looking forward to a utopian world of peace & love.” (January 2012)

- Ben Carson discusses/promotes “tithing to the government”, citing Jesus but which advocates government force on innocent people.

- During an interview on Glenn Beck‘s radio show, Dr. Benjamin Carson suggested that you shouldn’t be able to own semi-automatic weapons in large cities.

When asked by Beck whether people should be allowed to own “semi-automatic weapons,” Carson replied, “It depends on where you live.”

“I think if you live in the midst of a lot of people, and I’m afraid that that semi-automatic weapon is going to fall into the hands of a crazy person, I would rather you not have it,” Carson explained.

http://www.bizpacreview.com/2013/03/...un-views-57562

- Ben Carson: “In the scenario originally envisioned by the founding fathers, dedicated citizens served in Congress for a few years and then returned to their original walks of life. One solution to the problem of special interest groups might be to lengthen the term one serves as a representative from 2 years to 6, 8, or even 10 years… Can you even imagine how much more efficiently and logically our government would work under such a circumstance?” (January 2012)

- Ben Carson on healthcare: One solution would be to remove from the insurance companies the responsibility for catastrophic health-care coverage, making it a government responsibility [like FEMA insures against hurricanes]. Clearly, if the health-care insurance companies did not have to cover catastrophic health care, it would be relatively easy by analyzing actuarial tables to determine how much money they are likely to be liable for each year. With this information at our disposal, health insurance companies could be regulated just as utilities are regulated.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...-Presidential-Candidates-List-And-Information

 

[jjdoyle]

Carson has never held an office, therefore has no record to refer to, and folks here of all places are promoting him to the highest office of the land. If Carson WAS true to Liberty, he would know full well that Rand has served us well with a record to match and get behind him.

Never held an office? Sounds like a plus.
If Carson is true Liberty, sounds like he would run to make sure to hold some people's feet to the fire.

But as for no record, then where did you get your bullet points other than interviews, some of which are outdated?
Have you read his any of his books?

 

[specsaregood]

Ben Carson was a household name before the prayer breakfast? I don't know anyone who knew who Ben Carson was before the conservative media hype. I mean, he was quite an accomplished person that's for sure, but he was not even close to being a household name.

He was name-dropped/referred to at least 3 different times (different episodes/years) on the HBO series "The Wire" which I don't believe was "conservative media" and ended well before any such hype. Each time his name was used as a positive role model. just saying...

 

[jmdrake]

Carson has never held an office, therefore has no record to refer to, and folks here of all places are promoting him to the highest office of the land. If Carson WAS true to Liberty, he would know full well that Rand has served us well with a record to match and get behind him.

Right. Liberty means putting your brain in neutral and automagically doing whatever the hoard of Ron Paul supporters tell you to do. There are people here who might bail if Jesse Benton is campaign manager. And in reality a crowded field helps, not hurts, Rand. Ron Paul's chances of winning diminished every time some other candidate dropped out of the race.

- Ben Carson was raised a Democrat, but became a registered Independent. Only recently and for his bid for presidency, he registered Republican.

- Ben Carson: “I voted for George McGovern enthusiastically along with multitudes of young people, all of us looking forward to a utopian world of peace & love.” (January 2012)

Gee. We can't have black people leaving the Democratic party. In fact no Democrat should ever leave the Democratic party. Everyone who voted for a Democrat ever in their lives must vote Hillary 2016! I voted for Bill twice, Gore once and Kerry once. That disqualifies me from anything other than donating money to Republicans. Got it. For the record Carson didn't go seeking the presidency. A movement came to him wanting him to run. He was fed up with Obamacare and spoke out against it publicly. I guess he should have been a good little Democrat and stayed in line and continued to support his president right?

- Ben Carson discusses/promotes “tithing to the government”, citing Jesus but which advocates government force on innocent people.

While Ron Paul would ultimately eliminate the income tax, he does see a flat tax (what you're criticizing Carson for) as a step in the right direction.

- During an interview on Glenn Beck‘s radio show, Dr. Benjamin Carson suggested that you shouldn’t be able to own semi-automatic weapons in large cities.

When asked by Beck whether people should be allowed to own “semi-automatic weapons,” Carson replied, “It depends on where you live.”

Yep. Carson is new to conservative politics and hasn't thought through all of his positions. He has subsequently abandoned the "inner city assault weapons free" zone. The last politician I've known that hasn't changed any positions was Ron Paul. (And note I meant to say "Ron").

- Ben Carson: “In the scenario originally envisioned by the founding fathers, dedicated citizens served in Congress for a few years and then returned to their original walks of life. One solution to the problem of special interest groups might be to lengthen the term one serves as a representative from 2 years to 6, 8, or even 10 years… Can you even imagine how much more efficiently and logically our government would work under such a circumstance?” (January 2012)

You left out half the quote. You know what's in that "..." that you snipped out? With no possibility of re-election! He also said in the next sentence "with the possibility of recall." The point he was getting at is what to do about special interest lobbyist and he was putting forward possible solutions. Selectively quoting as you have is a distortion of what he was saying.

http://books.google.com/books?id=xw...ly envisioned by the founding fathers&f=false

Ron get's selectively quoted the same way.

- Ben Carson on healthcare: One solution would be to remove from the insurance companies the responsibility for catastrophic health-care coverage, making it a government responsibility [like FEMA insures against hurricanes]. Clearly, if the health-care insurance companies did not have to cover catastrophic health care, it would be relatively easy by analyzing actuarial tables to determine how much money they are likely to be liable for each year. With this information at our disposal, health insurance companies could be regulated just as utilities are regulated.

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showth...-Presidential-Candidates-List-And-Information

God forbid someone actually analyze all possible solutions to a problem.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/8/carson-better-than-obamacare/
If accounts are established at the time of birth, they will be even more potent because the vast majority of people will not experience catastrophic or even major medical events until well into adulthood. By that time, a great deal of money will have accumulated. Since bridge or catastrophic insurance will not be drawn upon for routine medical expenses, its costs will plummet, very much like homeowners insurance, which costs vastly less when there is a high deductible. Somehow over the past few decades, we as a society have wandered away from the concept of using health insurance only for major medical issues and paying for routine services ourselves. This is largely responsible for the tremendous spike in medical costs, and by using the health savings account system, we can return to a semblance of rational thinking.

 

[jjdoyle]

While Ron Paul would ultimately eliminate the income tax, he does see a flat tax (what you're criticizing Carson for) as a step in the right direction.

Rand Paul has apparently discussed a flat tax, with a rate of 17%...
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/31/pf/taxes/rand-paul-flat-tax/

So, Carson is wrong for saying God in the Bible says 10%, and why should the government get more than that...but Rand says a possibility of a 17% flat tax and that isn't mentioned, but Carson should just sit by and let that be?

Yep. Carson is new to conservative politics and hasn't thought through all of his positions. He has subsequently abandoned the "inner city assault weapons free" zone. The last politician I've known that hasn't changed any positions was Ron Paul. (And note I meant to say "Ron").

Ron changed one position that I'm aware of, and admitted it. He apparently used to favor the federal death penalty, but changed against it because of how he saw the system rigged against certain types of individuals and mistakes being known to have been made: