The Presidential election is just two years away and now it looks like we may have our first presidential candidate.
It appears Dr. Ben Carson is the first presidential hopeful to throw his hat in the ring.
According to ABC, “Carson, a famous pediatric neurosurgeon and conservative political star, will air a nearly 40-minute-long ad introducing himself to the American people this weekend, an aide to Carson confirms to ABC News.”
ABC also reports the documentary titled “A Breath of Fresh Air: A New Prescription for America” will air in 22 states and Washington, D.C. It runs through parts of his biography and family life, and includes his rise from being born to a single mother, his poor childhood in Detroit and his career path as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins for almost 40 years up to his decision to run for president.
Carson is also well known for his ground-breaking work separating conjoined twins. A talented surgeon, he is fiercely opposed to the Affordable Care Act.
A Republican, he became the darling of conservatives after he took on issues of taxes, healthcare and the political climate in front of an audience at the National Prayer Breakfast that included President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
He also called for a private healthcare savings plan and a flat tax in a speech that went viral and led to an editorial in the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Ben Carson for President.’
In the Journal article he says this about healthcare: “Here’s my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed—pretax—from the time you’re born ’til the time you die. If you die, you can pass it on to your family members, and there’s nobody talking about death panels. We can make contributions for people who are indigent. Instead of sending all this money to some bureaucracy, let’s put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own healthcare. And very quickly they’re going to learn how to be responsible.”
The retired neurosurgeon is also beloved by the Christian Right. He has called Evolution an absurd ‘scheme’, and suggested during an interview that a way to learn more about President Obama was by reading ‘Mein Kampf’, a book penned by Adolf Hitler.
According to MSNBC, Carson, “still, he remains wildly popular in far right circles. In August, he won the Polk County, Iowa Republican Party Dinner with 62%, while Sen Ted Cruz came in second place with just 7%; in July, Carson beat Cruz at the Western Conservative Summit as well.”
Carson says he has a duty to run because there are so many “clamoring for him to do so”. No Democrat has declared publicly their intent to run.