STORY OR NON-STORY? – AT 11:04 A.M. ET:  Stories about potential presidential candidates are entertaining, and sometimes they have substance.  So let us entertain.  There is a movement on to draft Dr. Ben Carson, the African-American neurosurgeon, for the Republican presidential nomination.  Is it possible this could happen?  From The Hill:

Neurologist Ben Carson could be 2016’s sleeper presidential contender.

You won’t find him in early polls, and he doesn’t make headlines for huddling with top advisers in primary states.

Carson is lauded for his plainspoken yet forceful ability to speak clearly about the party’s values. The retired physician rose to prominence after delivering a controversial speech at last year’s National Prayer Breakfast, where he lambasted President Obama and his policies while standing just feet away from the president.

Now, his supporters believe Carson, as a black Republican and a true political outsider, could be the one GOP candidate capable of taking down Hillary Clinton.

That simple star power has made him one of the biggest draws at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference, earned him a prime speaking slot on Saturday, and and even inspired an unlikely movement to draft him into the presidential race.

But for as much of a surprise as his rise with conservatives has been, he’s still a reluctant candidate.

Carson maintains he doesn’t want to run and isn’t making any serious preparations for a bid, but in a Thursday interview with The Hill, it was clear that he has thought seriously about the logistics of a campaign.

“My hope, obviously, is that someone else will really catch fire and generate a great deal of enthusiasm. If that doesn’t happen in another year and there’s still a lot of people clamoring for another option, then I will have to really look seriously at it,” he told The Hill in a phone conversation.

But people are already clamoring for Carson. He wouldn’t give specifics on where his packed speaking schedule had taken him in the past few months, but said he visits states in every corner of the country, headlining fundraisers and civic events and speaking at schools about conservative principles and on the dangers of ObamaCare.

“People are so thrilled to see that they’re not the only one with common sense. But the problem is the people with common sense have been beaten down so they’re afraid to express themselves,” he said.

COMMENT:  It's intriguing.  Carson is a terrific guy.  I've heard him speak and he'd make a wonderful keynote speaker at the national convention.

But running for president is brutal.  Carson has no experience in politics, and certainly none in foreign policy.  He is given to verbal gaffes, common to amateurs.  He has to prove that he is not a five-minute wonder.  It is a very hard road, and he will be accused of being an Uncle Tom, one of the standard charges made by left-wing McCarthyites. 

But I certainly think he's worth following, and we will do it.

March 8, 2014