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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Ben Carson for President

I know it is a long time until 2016, but Hillary Clinton is already out raising millions for her candidacy.  And, rumor has it that Establishment Republicans like Chris Christie and Jeb Bush, who feel that they are entitled to be the next Republican nominee, are already planning their campaigns.  So, it’s not too early to talk about who our nominee will be in 2016.

I’m a conservative and I am a Christian.  Like the Founders, I believe in limited government, fiscal responsibility, traditional moral values, and a strong, free America.  There’s no doubt about it, there are many fine conservative candidates thinking about running for President of the United States.  Ted Cruz is only 42 and he just got elected to the US Senate in 2010, but he is a great, courageous conservative.  Rand Paul understands the values of the free market system, and treasures freedom.  Like Cruz, Paul was recently elected to the US Senate.  There are many, many more fine men and women who would make a fine President, but can they be elected?  Can they heal our racial divide?  Do they have the maturity and the wisdom to lead our nation out of the precarious mess we are in?

I am not unbiased.  The National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee (www.runbenrun.org) is a client of Campaign Funding Direct, a company I founded.  The President of that company is Tammy Cali, a respected conservative and a very talented leader. 

But, I’m not for Ben Carson due to my connection with Campaign Funding Direct.  I’m excited about a Ben Carson candidacy because he is a wise, dedicated Tea Party conservative and I believe he is a sure winner!  Please let me explain.  In the last presidential election cycle, Campaign Funding Direct raised funds for Herman Cain.  It was very exciting and quite successful.  The campaign raised (via multiple fund raising channels) some $14 million in the first 40 days and was on track to top $30 million in the next thirty days when the campaign imploded.  Had it not crashed, the Cain campaign was on track to win the Iowa caucuses and to match the Romney campaign dollar-for-dollar from that point forward.  It is likely that Herman Cain, not Mitt Romney would have been the GOP nominee for President.

Why is the history of the Herman Cain campaign so important?  Well, what most folks don’t know is that the internal polling of the Cain campaign showed him winning 40% of the African-American vote.  That’s right 40%!  I was incredulous when I heard that Cain was doing that well among the black community, even up against Barack Obama.  But then I thought about it.

While African Americans voted for Barack Obama in overwhelming numbers (about 95% voted for him), he initially had a very hard time persuading them to support him.  The problem was his privileged background as well as the fact that he is not a descendent of slaves.  In reality, Barack Obama has very little in common with traditional black Americans.  He grew up in Hawaii, where he attended exclusive private schools, and then went to college at an elite Ivy League school.  He was never involved with the civil rights movement because he was too young.  It was for these reasons that Obama had a difficult time connecting with the average black American.

Herman Cain, on the other hand, made his way up out of poverty.  His father and his mother worked multiple jobs to support their family and to escape poverty and thereby passed along to their son, Herman, a strong work ethic.  Cain became a very successful businessman.

Herman Cain’s story is appealing, but the story of Dr. Benjamin Carson is truly amazing.  To understand it, you should read his latest book, America the Beautiful, that you can purchase at www.runbenrun.org.  Ben Carson was born into desperate poverty.  His mother got married at 13, could not read or write, but even after she found out that her husband was a bigamist and kicked him out, she refused to go on welfare.  She wisely observed that anyone who went on welfare never escaped it.  Even though she and her two sons lived in one of the worst areas of Detroit, she wanted something better for her children.  It is an inspiring story worth reading.

One son, Curtis, became an aerospace engineer and her other son, Ben, became a medical doctor.  In fact, Dr. Benjamin Carson became a world-renowned neurosurgeon, the first man ever to successfully separate conjoined twins at the head.  No one else had ever developed a way to separate such twins without one of the two dying, but Dr. Carson did it.  A book and movie about this miracle was written and produced called “Gifted Hands.”  You can purchase the movie at www.runbenrun.org.  And, in 2008, President Bush awarded Dr. Carson the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal of Freedom, for his medical achievements and for his humanitarian service.

While you and I may only recently be aware of the many accomplishments and accolades of Dr. Ben Carson, he has been a hero in the black community for many years.  He is revered and respected as a great man by African Americans all across America.  And, in fact, he is a great, albeit humble, man.  That being true, I have to ask myself, if Herman Cain could poll 40% of the black vote, running against a black candidate, just imagine what percent of the black vote Dr. Ben Carson would receive?  And, Dr. Carson would not be running against Barack Obama, a black man, but instead he would be running against Hillary Clinton or some other white liberal Democrat.

I personally believe Ben Carson would win more than 50% of the African American vote.  But, suppose Ben Carson would receive just 20% of the black vote?  If he runs and receives just 20% of the black vote, did you know that it is mathematically impossible for Hillary Clinton, or any other Democrat, to win?  If any Republican candidate for President wins as little as 20% of the black vote the Democratic ship runs aground, never to sail again.  That’s why the Democrats are so insistent on stirring up racial hatred.  They know that their dominance of the politics in America hangs by a slender thread.  Snip that thread and their political dominance disappears.  That’s why they are so shrill in denouncing all Republicans and all conservatives as racists.  They know it is a lie, but a lie they must perpetuate if they are to remain in power.

You may be surprised to know that it was not that long ago that Republicans won much more than 20% of the black vote.  As recently as 1956, Dwight D. Eisenhower received 39% of the black vote.  That’s why the candidacy of Dr. Ben Carson terrifies the radicals who control the Democratic Party.  They know they cannot win if Ben Carson is the Republican nominee.

Ironically, Dwight Eisenhower was the last non-politician Republican to win the White House.  And, like Ike, Ben Carson is a national hero.  Of course, Dr. Carson became a hero for something entirely different than winning a world war, but the intelligence, daring, and leadership it took to be the first man to successfully separate conjoined twins at the head is an incredible feat.  It took a medical team of 70 men and women, working on a split second schedule for 22 hours to accomplish this miracle.

But, the Republican establishment is uncomfortable with Dr. Carson because he is a conservative, Tea Party Republican.  And, as the establishment GOP likes to say, he’s not the next one in line.  Senator Bob Dole was the next one in line and he lost.  John McCain was the next one in line and he lost.  Mitt Romney was the next one in line and he lost.  Will the Republican establishment never learn? 

They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.  Well, the way the Republican Party chooses its nominees for President seems to fit that definition.  The truth is that we need a different kind of a candidate in 2016 if we are to get a different result.  We can’t win if we keep sending the same type of candidate up to bat.  We will keep on striking out.  We are headed in the wrong direction.  John McCain lost and then we nominate Mitt Romney and he received even fewer votes than Senator McCain.  They are both fine people, they just don’t have what it takes to win the White House.

Sadly, even a strong conservative candidate for President, who is just another white guy, will almost certainly lose.  This time we need a winner and that winner is, in my opinion, Ben Carson.  But, that means millions of Americans will have to rise up and work for his victory.

I’m not saying that winning is everything, but I am saying that we don’t have to compromise our conservative principles to win if we select Ben Carson as our nominee.  Ben Carson is 100% committed to the United States Constitution, and to the principles of freedom set forth by the Founders.  Ben Carson will insist on a balanced budget, without raising taxes.

Dr. Carson is not some Johnny-come-lately.  He supported the Tea Party movement from the very beginning.  And, he is a man of incredible courage as his speech at the national prayer breakfast showed.  You can see that speech here. With the President and Vice President Biden just a few feet away, Ben Carson said that Obamacare was a disaster, and then offered a free market alternative.  He also suggested that the IRS be replaced.  This is what he said about our tax system…

“When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see?  I see the fairest individual in the Universe, God, and he’s given us a system.  It’s called tithe. Now we don’t necessarily have to [make] it 10% but it’s [the] principle.  He didn’t say, if your crops fail, don’t give me any tithes.  He didn’t say, if you have a bumper crop, give me triple tithes.  So there must be something inherently fair about proportionality.  You make $10 billion dollars you put in a billion.  You make $10 you put in $1 …but now some people say, that’s not fair because it doesn’t hurt the guy who made $10 billion dollars as much as the guy who made $10. Where does it say you have to hurt the guy?  He’s just put in a billion in the pot.  We don’t need to hurt him.”

Dr. Carson also talked about political correctness at the National Prayer Breakfast.  This is what he said…

“…one last thing about political correctness, which I think is a horrible thing, by the way.  I’m very, very compassionate, and I’m not ever out to offend anyone. But, pc is dangerous.  Because, you see, in this country one of the founding principles was freedom of thought and freedom of expression. [Political correctness}…muffles people.  It puts a muzzle on them.  And at the same time, keeps people from discussing important issues while the fabric of this society is being changed.  …we cannot fall for that trick.  And what we need to do is start talking about things, talking about things that are important.”

Dr. Carson, an outspoken Christian, not only verbally supports the right-to-life movement, he has been an active part of it, counseling women to choose life, rather than abortion, and speaking at fund raising dinners for crisis pregnancy centers across the nation.  He recounts his discussion with the head of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in this excerpt from his book…

“A few years ago, I was consulted by a woman who was thirty-three weeks pregnant with a baby who had been diagnosed by ultrasound to have hydrocephalus or water on the brain.  [Later] I was discussing this case with the head of the ACLU, who had made a statement that the purpose of their organization was to speak for and defend those who could not speak for and defend themselves.  I asked whether or not this thirty-three week-old fetus qualified as a human being incapable of speaking for or defending itself.  He artfully dodged answering the question, so I decided to make it easier for him.  I told him that there were many premature infants in our neonatal intensive care unit who were several weeks younger than the baby in question.  These babies were on life support, but in most cases we had every expectation that they would survive.  I asked him if he would speak for and defend the rights of a twenty-eight week old baby who was in an incubator and on life support.  He replied that that was a no-brainer; of course the ACLU would defend such an individual.  …I then asked why it was difficult to defend a baby that was five weeks further along in development and was in the most protected environment possible, but easy to defend a less viable individual who was outside the womb.” 

As this exchange shows, Ben Carson is a man of incredible courage and intelligence, and he understands our Constitution and the principles upon which the Founders created this great nation.  As President, he would expect the government to be responsive to the wishes of its citizens, by repealing Obamacare, and making sure our borders are secure.

While Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama believe in the Marxist concept of redistribution, Ben Carson does not.  This quote is taken from his book, America the Beautiful

“…in 1795 the Supreme Court of the United States declared, “…The legislature…has no authority to make an act divesting one citizen of his freehold [property], and vesting it in another…It is inconsistent with the principles of reason, justice and moral rectitude…it is contrary to the principles of…every free government; and lastly, it is contrary to the letter and spirit of the Constitution.”

Only Ben Carson will end the mess that is the welfare state.  He will replace it with a path to self-reliance and success for those entrapped in this horrific nightmare.  He has written…

“A truly moral nation enacts policies that encourage personal responsibility and discourage self-destructive behavior by not subsidizing people who live irresponsibly and make poor choices.”

Dr. Carson proposes “phasing out government assistance” and replacing it with assistance from compassionate citizens who work through nonprofit organizations and churches to not only provide support, but also help to change lives.  He bluntly says of the current system created by the left to keep the poor in an underclass status, it…

“…may seem a bit harsh to many bleeding heart do-gooders, but I submit that what is harsh is continuing to encourage irresponsible behavior and generating a permanent underclass.”

Of the growing national debt, he writes…

“To saddle the next generation with unimaginable debt is not only callous, it is morally reprehensible.  How can we even live with ourselves knowing that we are eroding the standard of living of the next generations with each dollar that we add to the national debt?”

And, as a Tea Party conservative, he doesn’t just blame the Democrats for America’s fiscal mess.  Listen to this excerpt from America the Beautiful

“Both Democrats and Republicans have strayed so far from the path of responsible financial policy that the concept of balancing the budget is foreign to them.”

To keep the United States from going bankrupt, he advises…

“…have each governmental agency and department trim its budget by 10%—with no exceptions.  In each subsequent year, another 10% decrease would be required and would continue as long as necessary to bring the budget back into balance.”

There is one more important reason you and I need to encourage Ben Carson to run for President, and it may be the most important reason to support him.  I believe that the worst and most destructive aspect of the Obama Presidency has been his efforts to divide Americans…to set one group of people against another—black vs. white, young vs. old, women vs. men, blue collar workers vs. white collar workers, businessmen vs. workers.  Dr. Carson believes that encouraging class warfare and creating envy is immoral, and destructive to America. 

The Democrats, and their allies in the news media, are particularly adept at smearing decent people by recklessly leveling unfounded charges of racism against them for political gain.  This is what Dr. Carson says about racism…

“Although much overt racism has been eliminated in America, there are still too many people who make sweeping generalizations about whole groups of people based on a negative encounter with a person of a different race.  In order to resolve this problem, we must first admit that it exists even in our own families or ourselves—and African-Americans are just as likely to harbor racist attitudes as white people.”

E pluribus Unum is the Latin phrase that appears on the Great Seal of the United States.  It means, out of many, one.  In other words, it means that while we come from different countries to the United States, we are united as one people speaking a common language.  But, that’s not the view of the leaders of the Democratic Party.  They promote diversity, not unity.  Sadly, President Obama has been a divider, not a uniter.  Thanks, in part, to the President’s continuing efforts to divide Americans, we are more divided today than we have been since the Civil War.

I believe Dr. Carson will bring this shameful episode to a much needed end.  We are all Americans.  We love this great nation.  We know our nation has flaws and we know it makes mistakes, but we know that there is no other nation on the face of the earth that is as good and great as the United States of America.  If we are to bring Americans together, we need a man who will unite us, not divide us, and that man is Ben Carson.  I believe he is the one person who can end the rancor, the distrust, the divide that has been crassly exploited by the cynical and unprincipled leftists who control the Democratic Party.

Ben Carson has been a kind, compassionate, and skilled healer his entire life.  And, he is a proud and unrepentant American!  He will be a President who never apologizes for America.  Whereas, Barack Obama does not see America as a great, good, and exceptional nation, Ben Carson sees it exactly that way.  He sums up his view of our nation this way in his book, America the Beautiful

“…there is no country I’d rather be a citizen of and call home than America.  Where else, but in this land of opportunity, are people given so much freedom to pursue their dreams, with the potential to bring out the best in everyone?”

Ben Carson is a man whose life story defies the liberals’ notion of what a black American can accomplish.  He would make a great President.  While Dr. Ben Carson is not perfect (and, of course, no one is), he is the nearly perfect candidate for President.

No Democrat candidate for President, even Hillary Clinton, can defeat him.  No Republican candidate for President is as articulate, courageous, and as full of common sense as Ben Carson.  And, most important of all, no other candidate for President can heal our broken land.

But, you may be asking yourself, will Ben Carson actually run for president?  You can decide for yourself when you read this exchange he had with a reporter from the New York Times.  The reporter asked him if he was going to run for President and he said…

“Certainly if a year and a half went by and there was no one on the scene and people are still clamouring, I would have to take that into consideration.  I would never turn my back on my fellow citizens.”

I think his answer is pretty clear.  If enough American citizens encourage him to run, he will run.  He believes, like the Founders, in the idea of citizen statesmen serving their country, not as a career, but as a duty.  But, he also believes he must be called to serve by American citizens before being entitled to run.  He sees public service as something to be called to, not something to seek for personal gain.

Are you ready to clamor?  I am.  I want to not only win in 2016; I want to elect a genuine conservative as President.  That’s why I have donated to the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee (www.runbenrun.org) and I have signed the petition asking him to run for President.

If you feel the same way as I do, if you want to win in 2016 and you want to elect a solid, Constitutional conservative, then I urge you to go to www.runbenrun.org and sign the petition encouraging Dr. Ben Carson to run for President.  And, if you feel so inclined, I urge you to support his candidacy with your dollars.

Run, Ben, Run.



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