Why I Hope Ben Carson Is The Veep Pick

Here are four good reasons why President Trump should make Ben Carson his running mate.

The first presidential debate will be tonight in Atlanta. President Trump has announced that not only does he know who his VP selection will be, but that the person will be in attendance. It does sound like multiple contenders will be in attendance, so we still won’t know for sure who the pick is—although we will know who’s off the list by their absence.

Suffice it to say, there are lot of reports floating around about who’s up and who’s down in the selection process. I’m certainly not going to claim any unique insight into who Trump will pick. I do, however, have a strong view on who he should pick. I want to see Ben Carson get the nod.

Here are the four reasons why:

Carson is protection for Trump

It should go without saying right now that the political Establishment loathes Donald John Trump. First and foremost, he’s an outsider they can’t control. He doesn’t buy into their Forever Wars mantra abroad, with the trillions of dollars those are worth. That’s just the start of the grievances between Donald and the Deep State.

There have been two other occasions where the governing apparatus had real reason to fear a president:

The first time was in the early 1960s, when John F. Kennedy had begun a pivot to a deep distrust of the Military-Industrial Complex and was privately expressing a determination to get “advisers” out of Vietnam.

The second time was in the early 1980s, when Ronald Reagan was elected on a platform that involved not just cutting spending, but doing wholesale dismantling of significant parts of the federal government.

Both men had a vice-president with whom the Establishment was comfortable, Lyndon Johnson and George Bush Sr. respectively. And both JFK and Reagan ended up with a bullet in them.

JFK, of course died, and LBJ gave the War Machine the tragedy of Vietnam. Reagan barely survived. And while he do great things as president in peacefully winning the Cold War, it does bear noting that his push to dismantle the bureaucracy notably waned, and it wasn’t until the end of his presidency, in December 1988, that he warned of an “Iron Triangle” (government, media, corporations) that ruled the nation for their own interest, rather than society at large.

Barack Obama had the potential to be a similar threat, coming from a left-wing perspective. But Obama quickly made clear his intention to play ball, giving the Deep State eight bombing campaigns of Muslim-majority countries, drone strikes on U.S. citizens and expansion of surveillance power domestically. While JFK ended up in a casket, and Reagan in the hospital, Barack walked out of the White House to a life with five different mansions. The D.C. Establishment will either kill you or exalt you.

That brings us to Trump, the next big outsider threat to Regime power. Assassination has grown considerably more sophisticated over the years. Now, it’s done through weaponization of the legal system and character assassination through a corporate media whose compliance levels have reached North Korea-style subservience.

In his first term, Trump picked Mike Pence. As proven in his short-lived presidential campaign this time around, Pence has never met a foreign war he didn’t approve of or a corporate-friendly “free trade” agreement he wouldn’t shill for.

Pence, to those of us who can be naïve, trusting types, seemed like a nice guy at the time. But he was perfectly acceptable to the Ruling Class. And we got two different impeachment hoaxes, along with the dangerous Russia Collusion investigation—a conspiracy theory that prevented Trump from negotiating a better relationship with Vladimir Putin. We’ll go into the tragic consequences of that at another time. For our purposes here, it simply underscores that the political Establishment was perfectly comfortable getting rid of Trump to elevate Pence.

So, Trump needs a VP pick that the Regime won’t be anxious to promote. Ben Carson fits the bill. He shares Trump’s America First convictions on foreign wars and global trade. In fact, given that Carson’s antipathy to Big Pharma exceeds that of Trump (who still has his vaccine obsession), the Deep State would likely fear a Carson presidency even more than that of Trump. That’s the kind of insurance we need.

Carson is not an heir

Personally, I don’t want to see Trump’s VP become the heir apparent for 2028. There are lot of great things to say about Donald, and we say them here in this space. The quality of his endorsements is not one of them. Whomever his VP is has the potential to be the immediate frontrunner in ’28. I would prefer we get someone who is not driven by a desire to be president.

Carson again fits the bill. While he ran in 2016, I don’t think anyone sees him as “driven” to be president. As a speaker, he’s not particularly charismatic, so even if he did run in ’28, I don’t think anyone would automatically see him as the heir apparent. A Carson pick would create a wide-open primary in 2028 to fight for the post-Trump GOP. Given Trump’s spotty record in choosing people, I think that’s the best we can hope for.

Carson continues the outsider theme

This ties into the first point about being insurance against the Ruling Class, but goes more into the political messaging aspect. Carson, like the 2016 version of Trump, has never held public office, but has built up an impressive resume in his own right. A Trump-Carson ticket would further drive home the “Outsider” message. And it’s that message—more than anything ideological—that is the most potent theme in American politics. You’ll be presenting the country with two men who had good lives and records of accomplishment outside of politics, but chose to step up and serve. That will stand in sharp contrast to the career politician currently in the White House, who says what his Puppet Masters want.

Carson would be a really good VP

Everything else aside, how about we just talk about the fact that Ben Carson is well-suited to do the job? He’s someone who would be loyal to the president he serves. He’s not someone who goes looking for a TV camera at every opportunity. He would just accept whatever role Trump gave him, get into the trenches, and start doing the work. In a media climate where Trump absorbs all the oxygen in the room, Carson would be the grinder, just doing the work.

Carson’s Advantages on the Field

The above four reasons just focus on Carson in a vacuum. Here’s why the rest of the rumored field falls short:

J.D. Vance: I love Vance and he would certainly provide the necessary life insurance. But he’s indisputably a top candidate for 2028 and that would inevitably impact his ability to be an effective #2. Furthermore, as a Senator from Ohio, it’s highly like he would be replaced by a more traditional Bush Republican shill (Matt Dolan, the owner of the Cleveland Indians, who caved to the PC mob and renamed the team the Guardians is rumored to be the likely replacement). Vance’s value is in the Senate and in 2028. Don’t get me wrong—I’ll be happy if he’s the pick. But Carson would be better.

Tim Scott, Marco Rubio and Glenn Youngkin: I’m grouping these three together, because they all have the same strengths and weaknesses. Each one has a lot of good qualities, and each one could certainly play a role in a Trump Administration. All of them, however, accept too many Regime premises on Forever Wars and global trade. They are acceptable to the Establishment.

I’ve written before that the twin issues of War and Trade are “the Republican Reckoning”. That’s because those are the issues that many in the party—including many of whom I otherwise like—haven’t really come to grips with. That’s fine in a governor’s race, and can be lived with in the House or Senate. But not for president, where contesting the Establishment on these issues is fundamental.

All of which is to say that if Trump picks any of this trio, or someone cut in a similar mold, he would be well-advised to hire a food-taster. They do not provide life insurance.

Doug Burgum: The former North Dakota governor who ran a “get name recognition” presidential campaign is someone I know nothing about. People I respect are cautiously optimistic about what he could bring to the ticket, so I would certainly keep an open mind if Trump goes this direction. But I don’t know enough to say he’s my choice.

Ben Carson is the one. He provides valuable life insurance for Trump, he’s a loyal team player, and, at the end of the day, would just be a terrific #2 man. I hope he’s in Atlanta tonight and that he’s ultimately the pick.