ELDORA, Iowa—Bringing a crowd to laughs and cheers, Ben Carson spoke to almost 200 people Wednesday night during an ice cream social at the rural (as in, you must drive on a gravel road to get there) Pine Lake Wildlife Club in Hardin County, Iowa.
Carson, a Republican candidate for president in 2016, focused his message around Obamacare, immigration and job creation.
“Our strength in this country is going to be through our unity,” said Carson, a former pediatric neurosurgeon. “America is worth saving.”
Telling the crowd that 93 million Americans did not vote in the past presidential election, Carson urged those present to make it their goal to get three people that did not vote in 2012 to vote in the upcoming 2016 election.
Hoping to bring health care in the United States back to the people and not the government, Carson said:
“My whole professional career was spent looking out for the welfare of people.”
Obamacare, Carson said, “fundamentally changes the relationship between the government and the people.”
Originally thinking he would retire after his career in pediatrics, Carson told the audience he’s different than a normal politician.
“Politicians do what is politically expedient,” Carson said. “They say what they need to say in order to get elected. It’s one of the reasons that I’ve determined by the grace of God to never become a politician.”
Instead, Carson wants to create conversations and encourage people to sit down and have discussions on issues such as fiscal responsibility and terrorism.
Answering questions from the audience, Carson explained that he was politically independent for a long period of time.
He chose to run under the Republican ticket because it fit the most with his values.
Notable people in attendance at Carson’s speech included “The Button Man” aka Adam Lehmann, a Florida resident who makes T-shirts and buttons for political candidates and travels the country to follow them.
As the crowd dispersed, Carson shook hands and met with folks.
A staff member for Carson told The Daily Signal that Carson spent a couple hours volunteering earlier in the day at the Northeast Iowa Food Bank in Waterloo, Iowa, and will be making another stop at Fort Dodge Thursday morning.
