.@realDonaldTrump's ads will get more media attention, but this Facebook post by @RealBenCarson is more significant. https://t.co/qq8EuOY2fA
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 5, 2015He's linking to a tweet that quotes a Ben Carson Facebook post that seems like a rough draft of the lengthy opening or closing statement Carson would give in the nearly question-free, statement-heavy debate of his dreams. Carson writes:
I do not have political experience, I have a life journey. A journey that not only made it possible for me to relate to so many different people, but also one where time and time again I was told I would fail, only to succeed. My candidacy is different, that I grant you....Cue the violins -- yes, this is moving. On the other hand, it contains absolutely no evidence that Carson is even minimally qualified to be president, if your principal criterion is actually knowing stuff that a president needs to know in order to do the job effectively. But that clearly didn't bother Kristol when he was cheerleading for Sarah Palin, so it's no surprise that it doesn't bother him now.
I didn’t go to embassy cocktail parties or beg lobbyists for money. I spent night after night in a quiet, sterile room trying to save the life of a small child. That was my life’s service. This is my life’s experience. What I have is a lifetime of caring, integrity and honesty. I have experienced the American Dream. No where in the world, other than America, could a man whose ancestors were slaves, rise to become a leading brain surgeon and one day seek the Office of President.
The very fact that I am running is testament to the greatness of America. If all you want is political experience then I cannot be your candidate.
This isn't Kristol's first pro-Carson tweet.
.@allahpundit holds Trump banner high--but at his back he can't help but hear Carson's winged chariot growing near
https://t.co/OSLml94mh8
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 5, 2015He's rising in polls, has a great fav/unfav, 800k donors, raised $10m in Oct. Cd someone remind me why Carson isn't going to be the nominee?
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) November 3, 2015Here's Fred Barnes' cover piece from January: "Taking Ben Carson Seriously: 2016’s most interesting long shot."
https://t.co/mp0CW548JQ
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 27, 2015Desperate and creepy attack by @reaIDonaldTrunp on @RealBenCarson for being a Seventh-Day Adventist will backfire.
https://t.co/t5TCkQbxMZ
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 25, 2015Carson will end up with more votes and delegates than Trump. https://t.co/QozrcBbWqH
— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) October 22, 2015I know, I know -- Kristol is wrong about everything, so this looks like the strongest evidence that Carson will fade.
But it's also evidence that Carson -- unlike Donald Trump -- would be acceptable to a significant segment of the GOP elite. Further evidence of this was Rupert Murdoch's notorious Carson tweet:
Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else.
— Rupert Murdoch (@rupertmurdoch) October 8, 2015Obviously, the GOP Establishment would prefer Rubio, Bush, Kasich, or Christie, or, among the outsiders, Fiorina. But I think if Carson somehow emerges from this race as the nominee, a fair number of people in the Establishment will accept the outcome, concluding that it will be easy to nudge Carson in the direction of the Establishment's interests.
And Kristol, at least, seems eager to get behind another babe-in-the-woods who'd probably faceplant as embarrassingly as Palin in a general election campaign. (And as you can see from one of his tweets above, Kristol's pal Fred Barnes, another early Palin fan, is right there with him.) Does that increase the odds that we'll get to watch that happen to Carson?
2 comments:
Or do they simply not take him seriously enough to fear him? Donald Trump is a billionaire, is willing to say nasty things about other Republicans, and seems to have a solid floor in the polls well ahead of everyone except Carson. The establishment is terrified of him because they don't think they can control him and they think he'll definitely lose if he's the nominee; they also fear the possibility of an independent run. I don't think most of their fears are particularly justified, but that doesn't matter - they do fear him. Carson, on the other hand, is just a silly grifter that the evangelicals love. His strength seems to sap some of Trump's, so the establishment loves him. But he always seems half-asleep and talks like he popped fifteen different boutique drugs backstage; I just can't believe that the establishment thinks he can go "all the way". But he may be useful in blunting Trump's rise, so they're happy to cheer him along.
Of course, maybe they're wrong and they'll come to regret this. I think I'm done trying to figure out who Republicans will pick in their nomination process since they have nothing but awful options and their brains have marinated in Fox News crazy for far to long to pretend like they're rational. But I wouldn't take supportive comments from Rupert Murdoch or Bill Kristol as evidence that they think Ben Carson might be the nominee. He's just the only one who currently seems to be able to take on Trump.
The man may be a grifter, but he also a fanatic and an extreme narcissist, so if these people think he is controllable they may get an unpleasant surprise.
He is still the front runner, as implausible as he is, and they do have to nominate someone. Are any of the others plausible, I don't think so, but someone will win regardless.
Post a Comment