What the Reaction to Ben Carson Tells us about the GOP Elite

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P061908SC-0046.JPGDr. Ben Carson delivered an electrifying speech at the National Prayer breakfast. The neurosurgeon became a YouTube sensation with a speech that decried nonsensical policies on the debt, health care, . and taxation that left some people talking about Ben Carson for President.

The idea while well-meaning is far from practical. As much as we decry career politicians, we perpetuate them in our demands that presidential candidates be able to sound informed on even the most obscure issues and provide answers even if their answers are cliched sound bytes that really will tell us nothing of what they’d do in office because the candidates won’t really know until they confront the situation. Herman Cain learned that the hard way.

What Mr. Cain also learned is the new standard for “serious allegations” allowed the press to report anonymous and non-specific allegations of misconduct confirmed by anonymous sources who (of course) spoke on condition of anonymity. Dr. Carson is popular because of his inspirational Horatio Algerlike life story.  I pray he’s not foolish enough to actually consider a run for President.

However, the strong reaction to Dr. Carson’s speech tells us a lot about the Republican establishment on Capitol Hill.  If some random guy we’ve never seen shows up on YouTube giving a basic conservative speech and it creates a sensation it goes to show how little, the GOP establishment has been doing to communicate those core values. Rather than articulating common sense, they’ve become lost in the nonsense of Washington, of making compromises that will lead future generations over a massive cliff.

The Ben Carson phenomena suggests that Americans are starved for leadership and the Republicans are worthy of blame for the shortage.

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  • Me

    Praying Dr. Carson will run! If not him, then who? We are STARVING for leadership!

    • http://shanevanderhart.com/ Shane Vander Hart

      I see several Republican governors who could end up running in 2016. I like Dr. Carson, but he’s not qualified. Being a neurosurgeon doesn’t prepare you to be a chief executive. Giving good speeches isn’t the only qualification. Haven’t we learned that from the current resident of the White House?

  • …

    starving forleadership because our leader fails to provide any. Don’t blamethe republicans for his mess. And yeah,hoping Dr. Ben runs. doctors make decisions based on data and facts, and he’d be a fantastic leader and president. doubt the central bankers and elite leaders will let him get far in the running as he’ll turn the economy around and that wil bebad for them

  • Sue

    I think you need to Google Ben Carson. He has quite a story… I would listen to anything he has to say…

  • Josh

    If you are a theologian then you know that Dr. Carson follows the proverbs in his leadership decisions. You probably prefer the current guy we have in office.

  • SJ

    I agree with the main point of the article. However, I truly hope you don’t believe that Herman Cain was innocently accused. Yes, the media are dirty, but does that mean that all the women who accused Clinton were making things up as well? If I were a woman and had been sexually abused by a man, I would want to stay anonymous in my accusations too. Why? Because as we’ve seen, a woman in such a situation automatically gets called a gold-digger, a sl–, and whatnot. The name of the game is “Bash the Victim!!!” Frankly, I’m astounded that any conservatives could still believe Cain is innocent.

    Anyway, the shortage of leadership in the GOP explains its poor showing in last year’s election, and also explains why many folks (such as me) no longer automatically consider themselves Republicans anymore. As for Carson, I’m glad he made such a great speech. Nevertheless, we conservatives need to be careful not to jump on bandwagons strictly out of emotion. I’ve made that mistake before, and it turns out to be not-so-fun in the end. ;)