Well, he sure had me fooled.
Dr. Ben Carson, who is rising in the polls as he seeks the GOP Presidential nomination, did not change his party affiliation to the GOP until shortly before he decided to run for President.
Documents filed in Palm Beach County, Florida, where Carson lives, show that until October of last year, Carson was registered as an Independent. And when he was college student, Carson has said:
“I was a rabid Democrat when I went off to Yale.”
Here are the documents filed with his local election board when he switched parties, and also his request for an absentee ballot:
Does this matter in the least? That depends on who you ask about the issue.
Texas tea party leader Katrina Pierson commented on the revelation about Carson’s party affiliation:
“You’ll never find a candidate that you agree with one hundred percent. But, he should at least subscribe to your fundamental platform longer than six months prior to seeking to be your national leader. Six months prior to Dr. Carson’s announcement, his platform was void of top Republican primary issues including life, the second amendment, and God. It did, however, include sustainable development, social justice, and a 25% tax on all sporting events.”
Granted, many politicians have switched parties. But I cannot help but think these speaks to something else that I have observed about Carson: His willingness to say whatever is necessary in order to curry favor with the far right wing of the GOP.
Will this news harm Carson’s standing among the Republican primary electorate? I doubt it. Most of them are perfectly content to be misled as long as a candidate is willing to say the right things. And if you need proof of that, I would direct your attention to one Donald J. Trump.
Featured image by Flickr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
