The 2016 primary elections are more than a year away, but former Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson appears to be putting pieces into place for a presidential campaign.
In a CNN/ORC poll released in early December, Carson finished second behind only Mitt Romney as a potential Republican candidate whom that party’s voters would support. Romney drew the support of 20 percent of respondents, while Carson followed with 10 percent. A total of 14 other candidates followed with support ranging from nine to one percent.
The poll was the latest hint that the former surgeon could be a viable candidate in a crowded Republican field with no clear frontrunner. Carson first made political waves in February 2013 with a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast—with President Barack Obama in attendance—supporting conservative values. After retiring from medicine later that year, he was hired by Fox News as a contributor, and at various points drew attention for his views on the traditional definition of marriage, evolution, and the Affordable Care Act, among other issues.
Those views have often riled African-American organizations and leaders. In late 2013, Carson infamously opined that Obama’s Affordable Care Act was “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery,” drawing a firestorm of criticism.
Writing for The Huffington Post, political analyst and media critic Earl Ofari Hutchinson called Carson a “well-paid stalking horse” for the GOP, claiming that Carson’s race allows him to make bold statements that “mainstream” Republican leaders cannot.
“He’s an African American with name identification and some admiration among Blacks, though that’s dwindling fast,” Hutchinson wrote. “We can be sure then that this won’t be the last crackpot quip that we’ll hear from Carson. Sadly, he’ll continue to be the worst thing that happened to us since he opened his mouth.”
Walter Fields in a commentary entitled ‘Ben Carson’s Political Malpractice’ published in the AFRO in March 2014 echoed Hutchinson’s perception of Carson:
“The surgeon has declared himself an unabashed conservative and has become the latest Black darling of the political right. Every so often, we hear a Black voice being elevated by the far right in an attempt to neutralize racial claims in political discourse while actually inflaming the passions of the overwhelming majority of Blacks who see through the charade”
In late November, Carson told conservative talk radio host Hugh Hewitt that he believes race relations have deteriorated during President Obama’s administration.
“I actually believe that things were better before this president was elected,” Carson said. “And I think that things have gotten worse because of his unusual emphasis on race.”
A day later, NAACP President Cornell William Brooks fired back in an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, saying that Carson “with all due respect, should stick to the operating room rather than the campaign trail,” and adding that the former surgeon “is not particularly thoughtful on this issue.”
Carson ended his employment with Fox News in early November, the same time that a documentary about Carson appeared in 22 states. According to CNN, the documentary was paid for and created by a production company run by Carson’s business manager; ABC News reported that the “hour-long ad” was intended to introduce Carson to potential voters.
“The man’s running,” GOP strategist Tyler Harber told Fox News at the time. “He’s been running for two years.”
On Election Day, Carson also announced that he had switched his party affiliation from Independent to Republican. Carson told The Washington Times, that it was a “pragmatic” move, believing that a campaign as an independent campaign risked splitting the vote.
“Fortunately, the fit is pretty good,” he told the newspaper, for which he is also a columnist. “I believe in reasonable sized government. I believe in personal responsibility. I believe in individual freedom. And I believe in creating an environment to let free markets grow our economy. And all of that is very consistent with being a Republican.”
Democratic strategist Karen Finney told CNN in early December that Carson was someone to be “taken seriously” in the GOP primaries, but that his boisterously anti-politically correct viewpoints could damage his chances against establish Democratic opponents.
“In terms of appeal in a general election, there are comments he has made that can come back to haunt him,” Finney told CNN.
Across the aisle, Republican strategist Joel Sawyer told CNN that Carson’s actions and statements have drawn the attention of the GOP.
“He is someone that activists are listening to, to a degree,” said Sawyer. “People are talking about him.
”The primary season begins with New Hampshire in January 2016 and runs through late June of that year.
– See more at: https://www.afro.com/dr-ben-carson-a-2016-presidential-hopeful/?
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