By John J. Dunphy, The Telegraph – Ben Carson’s candidacy is collapsing. Conservative evangelicals, who formerly comprised the core of Carson’s supporters, are deserting the retired surgeon in droves for Ted Cruz or other GOP presidential contenders. Carson’s public statements finally convinced many of those who once ardently supported him that his abysmal ignorance of politics and economics render him unfit for the presidency.
Carson’s bizarre contention at a Values Voter Summit in 2013 that Obamacare was “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery” made him an instant celebrity in right-wing circles. A retired black surgeon comparing the landmark accomplishment of our nation’s first black president to slavery virtually ensured that Republicans would persuade Carson to seek the presidency. His support for a flat tax, desire to see Roe v. Wade overturned and belief that homosexuality is a choice pretty much sealed the deal. Still, it was Carson’s race that convinced Republican power-brokers to persuade him to run for president. The GOP needed Carson as part of an attempt to prove to black Americans that, despite a plethora of evidence to the contrary, the Republican Party isn’t racist. Read the full story here.
