This Friday 20th of November 2015 was the last day of filing to be on the Presidential primary ballot in NH for 2016.
Things were strangely out of sync as we showed up for the estimated filing time of Dr Ben Carson, only to find a gentleman in a sweater filing his papers with Bill Gardner’s assistant – he was Edward O’Donnell Jr,
a peace and love daydreamer from the city of Brotherly Love. There was also an old-fashioned (In the spirit of Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt, that is) Southern Democrat named Richard Weil with a socialist wish-list that would make Bernie Sanders jealous!
Somehow, before Ben Carson arrived, another well-known character scurried in to file his papers – yes, it was celebrity rodent time with Vermin Supreme! Vermin arrived with his signature Wellington boot headgear, the filing fee in small bills, and a plastic model of a brain. Running on a platform of No Hope, No Change, and Bitter Disappointment, Vermin opined that he was just the leader to save us from the Zombie Apocalypse, and that Dr Carson was the only man who could make brains taste bad to zombies(!). Vermin’s chief policy initiative would be to usher in the Pony Economy, a kind of Pony-topia, if you will. Oh, and that filing fee? Every bill stamped “Not to be used to bribe politicians” – without a doubt, the best campaign theater of the day!
Eventually, Ben Carson, the reason for all the security hoopla, and abridgement of Second Amendment rights around the statehouse, arrived on the scene.
It was for Carson that dozens had attended a “pre-game” meeting at Tandy’s Top Shelf (but no Carson, even though his bus had been outside the Statehouse for hours). It was for Carson that hundreds of supporters lined the hallways of the Statehouse for more than two hours before he showed up. It was for Carson that well-heeled supporters and dozens of media people lined the Secretary of State’s offices waiting patiently as they were treated to the aforementioned sideshows.
Finally, “king rat” scurried out as Carson entered the long hallway and worked the crowd. Personable, affable, charming – a beaming Dr Ben worked his way down through the throng of supporters, entered the offices, quickly and smoothly handled the filing, and headed to the inner sanctum for the press grilling….
[youtube=https://youtu.be/g_UTG8UrVGo&w=250&align=left&rel=0] As the entourage filed into the inner office, one of the long term campaign workers recognized Mar-Mar, and thanked her for all the work on Carson’s early events in NH, so MM asked was Carson any better at remembering supporters? No, it hasn’t improved, was the response. This matters. A man with a complicated story to tell can’t afford to have a bad memory!
Now to the press interview, with Carson speaking so softly as to appear indistinct more than a few feet away. The Doctor quickly fell into the trap of giving off the cuff answers to questions, which is how he frequently manages to alarm constitutionalists.
[youtube=https://youtu.be/OCsgFMgb5GA&w=250&align=right&rel=0] Friday’s doozy was in response to Trump’s purported call for a database of all Muslims in the US, when Carson replied “I think that we should have a database on EVERYBODY.” The reporter followed up with “I think [Trump] meant Muslim citizens in the US”, to which Carson doubled down with “If we’re not doing that already, we’re not doing a very good job!” and then followed with comments about not distinguishing between citizens based on religion or race – worrying!
See also Tom’s thoughts on the good doctor here.
