Ben Carson Is Gaining In The Polls, But Would Much Rather Be Watching ‘The Godfather’
Renowned surgeon and Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson recently told a town hall audience in Iowa that after retiring, he was looking forward to going to Florida, the Huffington Post reported. Carson wanted to “finally watch The Godfather and Rocky and catch up on his golf game.”
While Carson claims he really does not want to run for president, he told voters he feels running is God’s will.
“Lord, I don’t want to do this, but if you’re going to open the doors, I will go through with it.”
Carson’s been “going through with it” rather well as Reuters reports an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll putting Carson in fourth place. A Reuters-Ipsos poll puts Carson in third place, behind Scott Walker and Jeb Bush. For voters living outside of the beltway, Carson proves to be a viable alternative to the ever-expanding list of Republican candidates. Carson’s appeal can be attributed to his straight-talk, commonsense approach. Carson, like fellow candidate Donald Trump, attributes his appeal to his lack of political career, relying on his life experiences as a neurosurgeon to aid in difficult decision-making. Carson believes professional political experience does not necessarily make for a well-rounded candidate.
“For those who happen to have spent their lives pushing papers around and trying to get re-elected, to think that that is better life experience when it comes to solving problems, that they have the best experience, I think it’s a suspension of intellectual activity, to believe something like that.”
Carson is evolving into a GOP darling in a party that has been plagued by a racist past. Carson’s candidacy is seen as an opening to courting the minority vote. He is open and honest about his Christian beliefs, which makes him attractive to the religious conservative base. In Carson’s response to the SCOTUS’ recent ruling on same-sex marriage, he acknowledged that gay marriage was now the law of the land, but he voiced concern for the protection of religious liberty.
“I call on Congress to make sure deeply held religious views are respected and protected. The government must never force Christians to violate their religious beliefs.”
While Carson is seen as soft-spoken, the National Journal reports he is certainly not shy about voicing his position on many hot-button topics like the proverbial thorn in the GOP’s side, Obamacare.
“You know, Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. And it is, in a way – it is slavery in a way because it is making all of us subservient to the government.”
Despite his biting rhetoric, Carson continued to make strides in his political campaign. Carson’s next task: prove he can be a fundraising generator. Until Carson can prove his financial prowess, the Republican nomination is still up for grabs.
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
