Little over a year ago Dr. Ben Carson made national news when he criticized the President and his signature national health insurance legislation at the national prayer breakfast. His quiet boldness and commonsense approach to the health issue made him an instant celebrity. Ever since, he’s been a much coveted guest on conservative talk shows and the twenty four hour news networks. Many conservative groups are now calling for the retired neurosurgeon to seek the republican presidential nomination in 2016.
In my mind it may be a bit early for a conversation about the presidency since few of us really know a lot about the good doctor’s larger political philosophy, including issues like foreign policy. As a part of making his fellow citizens more aware of his more expanded political ideas Dr. Carson’s new book has just been released. It is entitled “One Nation: What We Can All Do to Save America’s Future.” Which brings me to the purpose of this write up; Dr. Carson made a visit to Tyler on Friday for a book signing at Sam’s Club. Obviously he didn’t take the opportunity of his visit to declare openly that he would be a candidate for the presidency, but he did discuss perspective issues that would be high on his list should he jump into the race. He swore off lobbyists and the lobby system, strongly expressed his support for faith-based organizations, and causes, and again took issue with the president’s “Affordable Care Act.”
Dr. Carson is undoubtedly an extremely intelligent man and would perhaps make an excellent president. But his outsider status can potentially hurt and help at the same time. The helpful side would obviously be the infusion of much needed new blood into the national political system. However, not having held a major state office could make building a base of support or starting point, a bit more difficult. Particularly given that his (presumably) home state of Maryland (which is where he spent much of his professional life) is considerably more liberal than Dr. Carson himself.
Regardless of what Dr. Carson ultimately decides, he is an interesting public figure and his visit is certainly good for our area.