Carson entering fray will dilute vote. Rino will benefit

[Lord Xar]

Same dance every run.. conservatives divide the vote, idiotic rhino wins.

When will we learn?

[Bastiat's The Law]

Carson will compete for the social conservative vote, the same constituency will also be sought by Huckabee, Santorum, Rick Perry, and maybe a few others.

[FriedChicken]

did I miss him announcing a run?
Cause I've heard him say several times he isn't running.

[Bastiat's The Law]

did I miss him announcing a run?
Cause I've heard him say several times he isn't running.

They all say that dude. Look at their actions. If they're traveling to Iowa or NH to give speeches, they're running.

[FriedChicken]

I guess we'll see.
But I don't think he is going to run. I think he likes the spotlight and wants to influence things and that is why he is doing what he's doing.

Him being a potential contender keeps him in the news and interviews more.

[Crashland]

Carson would probably take more votes from Cruz than Paul. But I doubt he will be running anyway.

[georgiaboy]

he does also have books to sell.

He's an amazing physician, has a wonderfully calm manner, is a devout believer, in short, a great man. I like him a lot. That said, even after having read one of his books, I don't how he'd run a presidency. I'd like to see him go for senator or something lesser so we could get a voting record and approach to legislating. He's a bit of an unknown quantity.

[CaptUSA]

I like Carson, also. I wish him well in his run, but I fear it might ruin his reputation. A Presidential run is hardly the place for a newbie to politics to develop his chops.

I think you guys need to get over the idea that this hurts Rand. I think it only helps.


Here's something that I hope you guys would have learned from last time around... Rand doesn't have to be everyone's first pick. He just has to be an acceptable alternative to whoever a person likes more. I'd embrace those who support Carson. Don't try to sway them. Get into the same boat with them and when that boat sinks, throw them a life raft. It's a much better strategy than trying to sink their boat.

[orenbus]

did I miss him announcing a run?
Cause I've heard him say several times he isn't running.

Carson takes major steps toward a 2016 White House bid
Published August 02, 2014
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/08/02/carson-takes-major-steps-toward-2016-white-house-bid/


Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and conservative sensation, is taking a couple of major steps toward a 2016 presidential bid, forming a political action committee and selecting a campaign chairman for a potential White House run.

The 62-year-old Carson made the announcement Friday after two days of meetings in Florida, as reported first by The Washington Times.

Carson has selected Texas businessman Terry Giles as the chairman and approved the formation of the PAC, named One Nation.

“No doubt he’s one step closer to making a decision,” John Philip Sousa IV, chairman of the National Draft Ben Carson for President Committee, told FoxNews.com on Saturday. “And we all think his decision will be to run.”

Sousa said the super PAC, which is gathering signatures across the country to convince Carson to run, has already raised $8 million for the presidential campaign.

Carson suggested his decision will be largely influenced by whether Republicans take control of the Senate in November.

Carson has already shown the potential to make a solid presidential run, likely as a Republican candidate. He finishing third in this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference poll and tied for third in the Northeast Republican Leadership Conference poll.

The Carson-for-president movement essentially started after his February 2013 National Prayer Breakfast keynote speech in which he gave a unflattering assessment of American today, taking issue with everything from the size of the federal debt to the country’s education system to lawyers in politics -- with President Obama sitting just a few feet away.

Carson, an African-American and former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University, has since continued to make speeches, write op-ed pieces and serve as a publisher for The Times’ new digital magazine for conservative blacks, American CurrentSee.

"Now is the time to start all of the appropriate exploration and investigation, and put down the structure that is necessary," Carson, whose new PAC will support like-minded candidates, told the newspaper. "Obviously we are very interested in what happens in November.”

[William Tell]

Carson is a Rino.

[dillo]

Where does carson stand on foreign policy, I have never seen him talk about it

[Christian Liberty]

Where does carson stand on foreign policy, I have never seen him talk about it

I recall to him saying the Iraq War was a mistake and I remember him being more non-interventionist than most others.

[Christian Liberty]

Tywysog Cymru needs to post in this thread. I know he knows a bunch about Carson. I don't know much about him.

[Brian4Liberty]

What's the scoop on Terry Giles?

[RonPaulMall]

They all say that dude. Look at their actions. If they're traveling to Iowa or NH to give speeches, they're running.

Doesn't mean he is running. Even if he has no intention of running, it is still in his interest to have people think he is running. He gets booked for more interviews. His speaking fee jumps up. He sells more books, might even be able to leverage a TV show out of it if he wants to.

[Brian4Liberty]

What's the scoop on Terry Giles?

Maybe this is the guy:
http://www.usdreams.com/Giles6667.html

[69360]

I think you are really reaching. A black guy with no political experience running in the GOP primary. Remember how that ended last time?

[Yung_Hustler]

Yes, Carson would dilute the vote in favor of establishment candidates. I think Carson will endorse Rand, though.

[erowe1]

RINO means "Republican in name only."

Isn't that exactly what Ron Paul was all those years? Isn't that what most of us are?

[Vanguard101]

Carson will take votes from Paul simply because Carson is an intelligent person.

[CaptUSA]

Carson can attract some people to these ideas that Rand cannot reach with his style. That is a bonus. If he is up on stage in agreement with Rand on 95% of the issues, then it helps to broaden Rand's support. If they get hung up on minor disagreements (which I don't think they will do) then it could have some drawbacks, but otherwise, his entry is a value-add. I hope he runs.

(Like I said before, though. If he runs, I hope the press doesn't ruin him.)

[georgiaboy]

RINO means "Republican in name only."

Isn't that exactly what Ron Paul was all those years? Isn't that what most of us are?

No, and No. We actually believe in and support policies that espouse the actual Republican Party principles of small government, free markets, individual responsibility. The GOP has been hijacked by the big gov't types; those are the RINOs.

[erowe1]

No, and No. We actually believe in and support policies that espouse the actual Republican Party principles of small government, free markets, individual responsibility. The GOP has been hijacked by the big gov't types; those are the RINOs.



The GOP, the party of Lincoln, has always been run by big government types. We're the ones trying to hijack the party.

[georgiaboy]

Carson will have a voice of reason similar to Rand's. Hopefully it makes the two of them look like the adults in the room vs. the rest of the field.

Ticket? A nice combination on the surface, and I would vote for it, but in the general election, Rand would benefit more from an experienced elected official who shares some of Carson's positives.

[Vanguard101]

The GOP, the party of Lincoln, has always been run by big government types. We're the ones trying to hijack the party.

The gop has always had proponents of small government.

[cajuncocoa]

The gop has always had proponents of small government.
There's a difference between talking the talk and walking the walk.

[erowe1]

The gop has always had proponents of small government.

And they've always marginalized them. Those small government proponents have always been the RINO's.

[Christian Liberty]

The GOP, the party of Lincoln, has always been run by big government types. We're the ones trying to hijack the party.

You are of course correct, and I've said the same thing before. But for whatever reason smaller government types (I say "smaller" because anyone who doesn't want to go back to at least pre-Fed government size isn't "small government" in my book) use the term "RINO" to refer to the bigger government types. Whatever. Its a rhetorical school. I'm not a Republican in name or in deed, so whatever.