The inevitable has finally happened, Ben Carson has announced he is, in fact a candidate for the Presidency of the United States. This is no surprise, he has been flirting with the idea for at least a couple of years, and has been raising money for a run for months.
Carson is an extraordinary person. The famed neurosurgeon is also a best-selling author and has long been a conservative favorite. On paper, he appears to be the ideal candidate for high office. However, he is not presidential timber for both obvious and less than obvious reasons.
Besides the fact we have not elected anyone without political experience to the highest office in the land since the 1950s, there is a more sinister reason Carson cannot get elected. It is good old fashion racism. I know, that sounds crazy. In the 21st Century as we watch the second term of our first black president come to a close, another black president should not be an issue. However, a black conservative is a very big issue, even today.
Several years ago during one of my visits to Fox News, the panel spent some time discussing Sarah Palin's decision to not run for reelection and, far more surprisingly, to resign as governor. Her decision to not run for reelection was no surprise, since most thought it made sense for her to pursue the U.S. Senate if she wanted to take her career to the next level (something she has yet to do). However, almost everyone was shocked when she decided to resign from her post as governor. To me it was an ominous sign of the problem facing conservative minorities and women with presidential ambitions.
I have been arguing that the mainstream media will do everything in its power to prevent a conservative black or other minority from being elected to the White House. The left has believed that minorities and women would have no political power without the progressive agendas of the past. Therefore, they want to keep these groups on an ideological plantation, with women and minorities marching in lockstep. I assume the progressives don't realize that the idea behind "giving" these groups their freedoms was to empower them to be able to disagree with their agenda. That is, after all, what freedom is all about. The progressives in journalism want minorities to feel free to make all the money they want, go right ahead and pursue the career they have passion for. But don't dare run for the highest office in the land unless you are willing to adhere to the orthodoxy that "gave you" the right to vote.
Immediately, others on the panel disagreed. They pointed to people like Bay Buchanan, who has enjoyed a successful career as a political consultant (although has now left that field and is now in real estate). She never ran for any office, so their point was moot. They then countered with Elizabeth Dole. There is no doubt about it; Dole has had an impressive career. Former Secretary of Labor, former Secretary of Transportation, and an U.S. Senator, Dole has certainly had a career filled with accomplishments. However, my colleagues were missing the point. You can point to many successful conservative females in politics, but we only have one that was on a national ticket and that was Sarah Palin. Now Dole has run for national office, but had little to show for it. She was never taken seriously and withdrew before facing a single caucus or primary. Furthermore, because of how moderate she was, she was unlikely to face the treatment that Palin faced.
The exclusive way to test my thesis is to apply it only to female candidates who have actually had the nomination for national office. Enter Sarah Palin. Palin was butchered by the mainstream media by every measure. The thought of Palin as Vice President provided nightmares to the left and to the media that now largely openly supports a progressive agenda.
The Herman Cain campaign for president was unconventional by every expression of the word. It is unusual for a person with no electoral experience to be taken so seriously as a candidate for the office in the first place (as he was, early on). Furthermore, it is virtually unheard of for a black citizen to run to the right of just about every candidate in the field. As a black conservative, Cain put fear in the hearts of the Democrats and of the media that has put themselves in the position of protecting the left. A black conservative being elected president had the potential of changing the entire electoral landscape of the future was too much to handle.
With that, Cain's candidacy crashed and burned with some of the worse stereotypes, innuendos and false information ever thrown at a black man. He was a threat and had to be removed.
Ben Carson is, arguably, on an even higher level when it comes to credibility. Very well educated, internationally known as a surgeon and one of the most eloquent advocates of small government in the country. This makes Carson a bigger threat than Cain and one that the media will also likely abhor.