Ben Carson: the Republicans’ Dark Horse

The U.S. presidential race has begun. Although the election is a year and a half away, there are already many candidates, and it is likely that new ones will emerge. Among the candidates, there is a man, Dr. Ben Carson, who has never been a politician and who hates the “political class.” He pulled himself out of poverty and climbed to the top of the social ladder. His biography includes more facts and experiences than the lives of many other people all together. He has an exceptional personality; for this reason, he most likely will not become the U.S. president.

Right now, as I write these words, there are seven months left before the primary elections. We already know the names of most of the candidates.

Hillary Clinton, the former first lady and secretary of state, is one of the few candidates for the Democratic nomination. Not long ago, it seemed the Democrats would nominate Hillary as their presidential candidate; however, during the last few weeks, there has been a considerable decline in public confidence and in her popularity. The decline does not yet indicate a breakdown, but “substitute” candidates, such as the former governor of Maryland, Martin O’Malley, are waiting for the presumptive nominee to slip up.

Meanwhile, the Republican race is quite congested. It includes four current senators, four current governors, five former governors, one former senator, a former business executive of a global corporation and a billionaire.

The former governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, is a serious candidate. However, as the son and brother of former presidents, he carries a great burden, and his last name is often used against him. After all, the United States is based on a Republican tradition, and a Bush dynasty of some sort (similarly, Hillary Clinton would follow in her husband’s footsteps) may not be met with approval. Arising quite often in public debates is the question of whether, out of 300 million people in America, is it really impossible to find a candidate from a different family?

The maverick real estate tycoon and TV show star, Donald Trump, has also joined the race. The merciless tabloids in New York have already nicknamed him the greatest “clown of the campaign.”

Carson is an exception within the field of Republican candidates. In comparison with Polish politics a few years ago, he is similar to professor Zbigniew Religa, except Carson’s renown extends worldwide.

Carson is political novice. Not only has he never held an elected office, but also, until two years ago, nobody considered him to be a player in the political arena. At that time, 63-year-old Carson lived and worked in Baltimore for 35 years. He was a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital, one of the best medical institutions in the world, where he climbed the career ladder.

Thanks to his excellent hand-eye coordination and his spatial visualization abilities, he became a pioneer in the field of children’s brain surgery. At the age of 33, he became the director of pediatric neurosurgery at the hospital – the youngest major division director in America.** On Sept. 4, 1987, at the age of 35, he was the first person in the world to successfully separate Siamese twins joined at the back of the head. Carson led a team of 70 doctors and nurses through the 22-hour surgery. To prevent the twins from bleeding to death during the separation, he used procedures that are normally employed in heart surgery: circulatory arrest and hypothermic arrest (the deliberate lowering of an individual’s body temperature).

In the following years, he performed thousands of surgeries at an approximate rate of 300 a year. He became a real medical hero. In 2008, he was awarded the nation’s highest civilian honor: the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He has also written several bestselling autobiographical books. He survived prostate cancer.

Feb. 7, 2013 was the day of the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., a yearly event attended by some 3,500 guests from the Washington elite, and which traditionally includes the president of the United States. The main event is an address (usually on a religious subject) given by a special guest, whose identity is kept confidential until the time of the speech.

Following tradition, President Obama attended the breakfast, which took place only a few days after the inauguration of his second term. The re-election – as he repeatedly emphasized – granted him the “public mandate” to continue implementing changes in accordance with his leftist views.

Carson was the guest speaker. As he would later admit, until the very end of his speech, he had not been entirely sure what he would say. He began with a quotation from the Bible, specifically from the Book of Proverbs: “Hypocrites delude men into error and sin by artful objections against the truths of God’s word,” Proverbs 11:9; “A man of understanding does not judge of others by their success,” Proverbs 11:12; “Both in temporal and spiritual things, God commonly deals with his people according to the measure by which they deal with their brethren,” Proverbs 11:25. Carson, who until that moment had been mostly associated with his bestselling autobiographies, gave a 27-minute speech. The video from the event is still available on YouTube. Apart from Carson, another person can be seen in the video, and he is even more interesting to observe. President Barack Obama, who was sitting only two chairs away from the speaker, had to face a lot of bitter facts that day. Obama’s facial expression revealed his thoughts, with a fake smile and a general impression of disapproval. There is no doubt that the leftist leader, who had just been reassured by his second inauguration, must have felt very uncomfortable.

The famous neurosurgeon alluded to political correctness that “muffles people. It puts a muzzle on them.” “What we need to do in this ‘PC world’ is forget about unanimity of speech and unanimity of thought. And we need to concentrate on being respectful [to] those people with whom we disagree,” he asserted, repeatedly condemning the political correctness that supports the leftist views of the media and political elite.

Carson, who, thanks to his demanding mother, was able to leave the African-American ghetto in which he was born, stated that he “hated poverty.” It was also thanks to education, stubbornness and his Christian faith that he was able to get out, although the process was challenging, as he did poorly in primary school. However, as he described his mother’s attitude, Carson attacked the orthodox leftist view that the poor are “victims” who constantly need the support of social welfare. His mother raised Carson and his brother by herself and although it was a difficult time for them, she “would never allow herself to be a victim no matter what happened. Never made excuses, and she never accepted an excuse from us. And if we ever came up with an excuse, she always said, ‘Do you have a brain?’ And if the answer was ‘yes,’ she said, “then you could have thought your way out of it.’” This is the way Carson spoke of his mother, as a very wise person, despite having finished only a few grades of primary school and being almost unable to read.

Carson criticized current politicians, which consists mainly of lawyers who aim to “win, by hook or by crook” rather than solve real problems. He recalled the example of ancient Rome: “Nobody could even challenge them militarily, but what happened to them? They destroyed themselves from within – moral decay, fiscal irresponsibility.” Carson spoke on, and Obama seemed to be more and more surprised.

The national debt, a complicated taxation system, an inefficient health care system … Carson reeled off America’s problems and provided solutions. When he finished by quoting the Pledge of Alliance–“one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,”– it was obvious the conservatives had a new star. Indeed, the very next day, the conservative media published many favorable comments.

Carson became a speaker and a television commentator, and a presidential exploratory committee was created. Some $13 million was collected, mostly thanks to small donations from ordinary citizens. In American politics, the most important candidate is the one who can gain people’s support, as shown through the most evident expression: money.

A few months after the confrontation with Obama, conservatives had a new hero: a doctor of color who had saved children for decades, and whose views and ideas could bring relief to an ailing America.

Carson’s history reads like a rags-to-riches book, with the obligatory addition of “only in America.” The main character is his mother. She married at the age of 13, and later discovered that her husband was a bigamist. Uneducated, she brought up her sons, forcing them to study and repeating to them that in their books, they would find a way out of poverty.

As Carson reminisces, he was impetuous in primary school, and once almost killed his friend. He came home frightened, praying to God to help him tame his anger. From that moment on, things got better, thanks in part to his mother’s discipline.

“You make decisions. You decide how much energy you want to put behind that decision,” said Carson. When he became a famous neurosurgeon, his childhood experiences encouraged him to create the Carson Scholars Fund, which provides scholarships to students.

A proper education and good family role models form the basis of Carson’s views. According to him, personal responsibility, hard work and sympathy are the keys to success. He says that anyone can fulfill the “American dream,” because he achieved it himself.

The first televised Republican presidential debate is scheduled for August 8 in Ohio. There are so many candidates that the organizers may impose restrictions. Fox News has stated that only those ten candidates with the highest average of support in the polls will be invited. So far, there are three favorites: Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker. But the retired neurosurgeon is constantly becoming stronger.

It is evident that Carson is working with professional advisers; he has stopped his severe criticism of “Obamacare,” same-sex marriage and homosexuality.

Carson has had his first lesson as a presidential candidate, saying that “using certain expressions makes more people want to listen to him.”* Everything about his campaign is cool and modern. It started with a gospel choir’s performance of the song “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, who also comes from Detroit.

But one thing remains unchanged: Carson is not a politician by trade and he does not have a network of connections and donors. He declared, “I’m not a politician” during the inauguration of his campaign. He is a zealous Christian who prays every day. He has a faithful army of conservative activists who listen to his speeches on Fox News and his criticisms of Barack Obama, but it may not be enough.

After Obama’s election, somebody without political experience may be less likely to be chosen. The success of candidates from outside the establishment generally depends on how they perform in the primary elections, where they can gain popularity and new funding sources. So far, the method of direct marketing remains unchanged.

Some time ago, I donated a few dollars to support Carson’s exploratory committee. Now that he has announced his presidential campaign, I received a letter with a request to donate at least $25. For $35, you can receive a signed booklet, entitled “My Life.” Whether it is a donation of $50 or $100, it all means “investing in genuine, conservative ideas – family, faith, individual initiative, hard work, education and private enterprising.” There were also a few stickers and three postcards to send to family or friends, which said, “I’m with Ben. I’ll be voting for Dr. Ben Carson. You should do it too.” In the letter, Carson announced, “I do not represent the political class, and my campaign is not financed by lobbies or political insiders.”*

It is curious to consider the way in which the mainstream media treats Carson. It is no secret that the journalism elite already have a favorite: Hillary Clinton. Therefore, it is no surprise that Carson is considered to have no chance at all, a curiosity of the campaign instead of an important player. Nevertheless, a TV show star made quite an amusing remark that, “in comparison with a clown like Donald Trump,” even Carson appears to be a serious candidate.*

The criticism was too much for conservative radio preacher, Rush Limbaugh, who said, ”Dr. Benjamin Carson is one of the finest, most accomplished human beings on this planet who has done more for people than most people in politics will ever do.” The New York Times predicts that if Carson survives the primaries, a process comparable to a few months of political meat-grinding in front of all of America, he could become the voice of the conservatives.

Personally, I think that even though it seems rather improbable that Carson will be elected president, he could become the health and human services secretary. He could also become the vice president – he would be an excellent political partner for any official Republican candidate.

Meanwhile, Carson is touring across America and convincing people of his political potential. After the tragedy in Charleston, where a drugged 21-year-old killed nine Africa-Americans during a prayer service, Carson said: “I fear our intolerance of one another is the new battle ground of evil. Today many feel it is OK to hate someone who thinks differently than you do. As a brain surgeon I can assure you that all of our brains look the same, no matter what our skin color or party affiliation.” On another occasion, he stated that, “Our founders wanted to make sure there was no such thing as a political class.” Most likely, these truthful and “apolitical” words will prevent Carson from becoming president. But it will be interesting to observe what happens next with the dexterous doctor.

*Editor’s Note: The original quotations, accurately translated, could not be verified.

**Editor’s Note: At age 33, Dr. Ben Carson became the youngest major division director in the history of Johns Hopkins Hospital, not America.