MIAMI -- Before you know it, the 2016 presidential race will be here. A number of potential candidates are being talked about and one popular choice is a very well known doctor.
Dr. Ben Carson is known as a straight shooter whether it's at home playing his favorite game of pool or talking politics. He calls it like he sees it, like when he said Obamacare, "is really the worst thing to happen in this nation since slavery."
His no nonsense approach captivates conservative audiences.
Now, the massively organized "Draft Ben Carson for President" movement has positioned him near the top of presidential polls.
All signs point to a move from medicine to politics for him; but first, he says God would have to grab him by the collar. Has he felt the tug?
"I feel fingers," he told CBN News's David Brody.
Gifted Hands: The Testimony
A presidential run would only add to Carson's achievements.
"My life has been truly amazing," Carson tells CBN News from his home in West Palm Beach, Florida. "I think about it all the time."
His well-documented journey is told in the book Gifted Hands and movie by the same title.
It begins in Detroit, where a single mom raised him. Poor grades followed, along with a violent temper that led him to a stabbing incident with a friend.
On that day, the knife miraculously hit the boy's belt buckle, giving young Ben another chance to turn his life around.
And he took it. Alone in his house, he picked up a Bible, gave his life to Jesus and asked the Lord to take away his violent temper.
Carson reflects back to that moment.
"Some people say you just learn how to cover it up but when the Lord fixes a problem, he fixes it. He doesn't do a paint job," Carson said, reflecting on that pivotal moment.
And his temperament today? "It's virtually impossible to make me angry now," he said.
Not Each Other's Enemies
If the good doctor becomes a presidential candidate, he says his cool demeanor will help him.
"I'm not going to take the bait," Carson told CBN News. "I'm not going to get angry. It's just not going to happen."
This could be the essence of a Carson for president campaign: the calm doctor, dispensing ideas, leading a conversation on pressing issues and seeking reconciliation. Carson wouldn't have it any other way.
"Americans have to recognize that we, the American people, are not each other's enemies. The enemies are those people who try to divide everybody up," he explained.
He said good examples of this are those who call pro-lifers "anti-women" or who call traditional marriage supporters "anti-gay."
"They've been reading a book by Saul Alinsky called, Rules for Radicals, which says never have a conversation with your enemies because that humanizes them and your job is to demonize them," he added.
Prepared for the Fight
Candy Carson, his wife of nearly 40 years, knows his critics will demonize her husband if he runs. She understands the stakes as she explained calmly from the Carson's home in West Palm Beach, Florida.
"Our country is going in a way that is different from what our founding fathers were thinking. And we want to make sure he felt called to wake people up and that's what he's been doing," she said.
Candy and Ben Carson plan to lean on their Christian faith to get them through.
"In the Bible it says the Lord doesn't give you more than you can handle, right," Candy Carson said. "And a lot of times you feel like, 'Are you sure? Are you really sure?' But he does give you what you need."
Ben Carson said it is God who directs their lives.
"We recognize that we are being instruments in the hand of God. He is the one who really orchestrates all of this," he said.
His Political Platform
Right now, Dr. Carson is orchestrating his political platform. He wants a fairer and flatter tax structure, lower corporate taxes, and health savings accounts for all. But his number one issue is the out-of-control debt.
"Unless we get a grip on that, why wouldn't we suffer the same fates as other pinnacle nations who have allowed debt to encumber their progress?" he warned.
Carson also will not let political correctness get in his way. He plans to speak his mind on issues, like the roots of this country.
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