Dr. Carson for Vice President
“Trump and Ben are Bros for Life”
Within a few weeks, the last of the Republican challengers to Donald Trump will be out of the race and we will begin the speculation phase of who will be his choice for vice president. I think it is safe to say that Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis will not be on the list and there will be no redo of the Trump/Pence ticket.
There are a number of worthy contenders. Here are some of them, in no particular order — Kari Lake, Rep. Byron Donalds from Florida, Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswami, Tucker Carlson, and Dr. Ben Carson.
The office of vice president is often inconsequential in the operation of the executive branch. Once in a while the vice president breaks a tie in the Senate on an important bill or heads a prominent task force, but as long as the president remains in office, the vice president can live in obscurity.
So why is it that every four years people seem to obsess over who will be picked for this position? Partly it’s the fun thing to do between the understanding of who will be the nominee and the beginning of the post-nominating convention campaign.
There is also the idea that the vice president can help in the general election by carrying either their home state or some other state they have some connection with. This has been shown by Rich Barris of Big Data Poll and others as a false narrative for both Republicans and Democrats in the last 60 years.
Most importantly, a vice presidential candidate cannot be a drag on the ticket.
However, in 2024 there are some other factors in play for who will be Trump’s running mate.
1. Trump can only serve one term so there will be an open primary in 2028 for the Republicans. Anyone who is the vice president will have a tremendous advantage if they want to run for president and can use the office to their advantage.
2. Trump will not be a young man during his next term. He will be 82 when he leaves office. The chance he may die in office is statistically higher now than during his first term.
3. The extreme animosity and vitriol towards Trump from certain segments of the political establishment, DC bureaucracy and liberal activists makes him a target for assassination more so than any president in living memory and maybe more than any president since Lincoln (the assassinations of Garfield and McKinley were not specifically against the person, it was more about the office they held).
4. Since Trump was impeached twice in his first term, there is every reason to believe the Democrats would do it again if they have a majority in the House of Representatives. While conviction in the Senate is unlikely even if the Democrats have a majority, it cannot be ruled out.
Most importantly, Trump has learned the hard way how important loyalty is in the swamp of Washington D.C.
Unlike the others, Dr. Carson has the combination of attributes which make him the best choice for vice president.
§ Since it is highly unlikely Dr Carson would want to run for president in 2028 due to his age, Trump can count on him to stick with his programs and not try and manipulate things to increase his chances of winning the next nomination.
§ He has proven his loyalty to Trump by being a stalwart friend and ally both on the campaign trail after losing the nomination in 2016, during all four years of Trump’s presidency as Secretary of HUD and he has not waivered since Trump left office in 2021.
§ He showed his competency in dealing with the DC bureaucracy during his tenure as Secretary of HUD.
§ Dr. Carson is a man of devout Christian faith and is an outsider to the DC mentality. This makes Trump more impeachment and assassination protected as the Swamp would not want to get rid of one outsider and protector of the Christian faith to be replaced by another one.
§ It is easy to see that Trump respects Dr. Carson. This was shown early on during the introductions at a Republican primary debate in New Hampshire in 2016 when Trump waited in the wings so Dr. Carson could be properly introduced. As one person commented on this video 7 years ago, “Trump and Ben are Bros for Life”.
Also, Dr. Carson’s less bombastic personality is a great counterweight to Trump’s. His story of a boy in the projects growing up and attaining pre-eminence as a pediatric neurosurgeon is what more Americans, especially American men, need to hear. Lastly, the color of his skin will be a plus even though it should not matter at all — as Martin Luthor King dreamed about. All of these will benefit a Trump/Carson ticket.
The other names I mentioned have some very good attributes and any of them would be good vice presidents in my estimation. However, Dr. Carson is the only one who rises to the top of the list and who Trump would be most comfortable with.
