# So tell me about Ben Carson... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154 "2014-12-02T19:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/361 "2015-08-13T20:14:33Z")
“I wasn’t the supplier, I was just the guy who made up the market for supplying it” is a curious moral defense. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/362 "2015-08-13T23:34:25Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > ACtually, I’ll make it simple. Carson will get at least 300 delegates if he’s an active candidate when the iowa caucuses occur. So he has to drop out of the race(or win it) with at least 300 delegates in order for me to win, or less than 300 in order for you to win. If he drops out or suspends his campaign without ever having competed in Iowa, the bet is just void. Deal? Can I get in on this action? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/363 "2015-08-13T23:42:10Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Who is “we”? :dubious: **adaher** used “we” there to mean, _the American people, collectively, exemplified by their officials_. It’s a common, cromulent usage, and I agree with the gist of the post. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/364 "2015-08-14T00:12:29Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Might as well bump this thread, since two state polls show him with a nice bump from the debate: > > [Latest Polls 2024 | RealClearPolling](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/) > > He’s 2nd in Iowa, 3rd in Michigan. Which means he’s 1st in Iowa, 2nd in Michigan, since Trump is still not building an actual campaign. Carson is. I don’t know, I read that Trump’s office in NH is quite legitimate, and eclipsing many other candidate’s campaign staffs in size. I can look for the link if you’d like but Google produce the info for you. Point is, I think Trump is all-in. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/365 "2015-08-14T03:47:03Z")
Trump’s building up in Iowa, too. From the [Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/an-iowa-surprise-donald-trump-is-actually-trying-to-win/2015/08/13/564a9f50-4142-11e5-8e7d-9c033e6745d8_story.html): > [@](#): > > But here in Iowa, it’s another story. Trump is trying to beat the politicians on their turf, building one of the most extensive organizations in the Republican field. > > The groundwork laid by Trump’s sizable Iowa staff, with 10 paid operatives and growing, is the clearest sign yet that the unconventional candidate is looking beyond his summer media surge and attempting to win February’s first-in-the-nation caucuses. > > This is becoming a cause of concern for rival campaigns. > > “I see them as a major threat to all the other campaigns because of the aggressiveness of their ground game,” said Sam Clovis, an Iowa conservative who leads former Texas governor Rick Perry’s campaign. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/366 "2015-08-14T03:48:39Z")
Other sources say he’s refusing to spend money or build infrastructure: > **[Trump Not Spending Money on Traditional Campaign](https://politicalwire.com/2015/08/12/trump-not-spending-money-on-traditional-campaign/)** > > "Donald Trump never skips a chance to remind audiences of his wealth, but he is proving reluctant to spend his own money on campaign essentials typical of a major presidential candidate," the Wall Street Journal reports."The New York developer has... He’s not even trying to get on the ballot, which could actually leave him off some state primary ballots depending on the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/367 "2015-08-14T13:12:40Z")
I would assume that, with ten paid staffers, that ballot access is something they’re going to start working on. The other things it says he refuses to spend money on are things like television ads and in-person events. So far he’s done well without them so refusing to spend money on them right now doesn’t mean that he’s not serious. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/368 "2015-08-14T13:14:33Z")
He’s done about what you’d expect having universal name recognition and saying crazy things. He can’t get any further without a real campaign. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/369 "2015-08-14T13:24:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He’s done about what you’d expect having universal name recognition and saying crazy things. He can’t get any further without a real campaign. Any further than being the leading candidate for the Republican nomination? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/370 "2015-08-14T14:34:58Z")
Carson’s defense of his own use of fetal tissue is [not going well](http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/politics/ben-carson-aborted-fetuses-research/index.html). ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/371 "2015-08-14T19:26:50Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > But he wasn’t elected because of his accomplishments at either. He was elected because he was supposedly a “good and honest man”, unlike that alleged paragon of evil, Richard Nixon. Is there any reason you would use the word supposedly? Is there any indication that he was not a good or honest man (or at least as honest as a politician can get)? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/372 "2015-08-14T19:28:46Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > But he wasn’t elected because of his accomplishments at either. He was elected because he was supposedly a “good and honest man”, unlike that alleged paragon of evil, Richard Nixon. And BTW, is there any anything to rebutt the evidence that Nixon was not good or honest? ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/373 "2015-08-14T19:35:46Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > No, he understands a pie wedge that relates to his specialty. > > Creationism is as stupid as astrology or homeopathy. It’s drivel. And only fools, the ignorant, and the delusional believe it. And he’s not ignorant, since he had to get an MD. The great thing about science is that there is almost always room for doubt. Perhaps even enough room for faith. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/374 "2015-08-14T19:38:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It’s hugely relevant to who he appoints to key posts, and what legislation he’d be willing to sign, just like for any president. Religious ideologues are moralistic science deniers who are willing to defund global warming initiatives, repeal emissions standards, ban abortions, and deny gay marriage. And then there is that whole Republican notion of 2+2 economics theory. Cripes. religious ideologues do not have to be global warming deniers (unless you think the pope is not a religious ideologue). what is 2+2 economics? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/375 "2015-08-14T20:54:54Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > The great thing about science is that there is almost always room for doubt. Perhaps even enough room for faith. There is room for faith in science. Although faith is in itself stupid, it doesn’t need to color science. That said, it’s not reasonable to dismiss evolution after exposure to it. It’s akin to believing that the sky is in fact a stone dome that has water outside it. It’s just goofy fucking nonsense and arrogant petulance that elevates the stupidity of the ancients over what you can see with your own eyes. I’d vote for a religious man. I wouldn’t vote for a creationist, because that level of stupid vapidity means they can literally do anything. What if Carson believed for biblical reasons that he had to nuke Iran? If his professors couldn’t show him with actual evidence that evolution was real, what are you going to say to convince him that God doesn’t want him to cleanse the holy-land with fire? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/376 "2015-08-15T00:39:32Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He’s done about what you’d expect having universal name recognition and saying crazy things. He can’t get any further without a real campaign. Like, you know, the one I just linked to a story about him building? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/377 "2015-08-15T01:41:39Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > But he wasn’t elected because of his accomplishments at either. He was elected because he was supposedly a “good and honest man”, unlike that alleged paragon of evil, Richard Nixon. This is an odd turn on history. No one thought Ford was evil or dishonest. Many were angry that he had pardoned the first sitting president who was actually discovered to have been involved in criminal activities while in office, denying the republic the ability to bring him to justice. (Many others still thought that Nixon was unjustifiably hounded from office.) However, many of those who had no problem with the pardon were more than upset with Ford’s debate broadcast claim that “There is no Soviet domination of Eastern Europe.” Having lost both the Left (Nixon issue) and the Right (Soviet issue), Ford’s candidacy was doomed. But it had little to do with Carter being a “good and honest man.” Similarly, while a little known governor of a Southern state could hardly run on his accomplishments, nothing Ford had done really grabbed anyone’s attention in terms of his accomplishments. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/378 "2015-08-15T01:43:22Z")
> [@Lobohan](#): > > What if Carson believed for biblical reasons that he had to nuke Iran? If his professors couldn’t show him with actual evidence that evolution was real, what are you going to say to convince him that God doesn’t want him to cleanse the holy-land with fire? Now, there is no reason to equate him to G W Bush. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/379 "2015-08-15T08:11:41Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > Now, there is no reason to equate him to G W Bush. _For decades, the Republican Party — my party — was widely viewed as a party of wise and thoughtful national-security leadership. That brand was severely damaged by the Bush administration. It now appears that the field of Republican presidential candidates is looking to make that damage permanent._ – [Lawrence Wilkerson](http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/08/12/why-do-all-the-gop-candidates-sound-like-george-w-bush/) No, there probably is good reason to. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154.md?page=18)