Dr. Ben Carson smiles and shakes hands with local residents during a book-signing event in Florida in November.(George Horsford/Daily Sun via AP)
Dr. Ben Carson has found a new job. The retired neurosurgeon who officially ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination last week has signed on as national chairman of My Faith Votes, a nonpartisan group that encourages Christians to participate in elections.
Carson officially suspended his presidential campaign Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) outside Washington, after saying earlier in the week that he did not “see a political path forward” for his bid – although he raised more money than any of the remaining Republican candidates, at $58 million.
“Nothing is more important to me than my personal faith, and it is my faith that motivated me to be involved in the political process to begin with,” Carson said Friday in a statement, Politico.com said. The Washington Post reported that he announced the move at the CPAC meeting.
“I believe Christians in this country can easily determine the next president of the United States and all other national and local leaders, should they simply show up at the polls,” Carson said. “When we do vote, ‘We The People’ will once again solidify our commitment to the Judeo-Christian values upon which our nation was founded.”
Carson is a Seventh-Day Adventist, a Protestant Christian denomination that worships on Saturdays and expects Jesus to return to earth soon.
“This moment in history is perhaps the most critical, period, in the history of the United States. People of faith can make the difference,” Carson says in his introductory message on the Parker, Colorado-based My Faith Votes website. The group describes itself as a nonpartisan educational organization.
“When you look at the number of evangelicals, 25 million who didn’t vote last time, and the margin of difference between the candidates – 5 million votes. You can see that it would have made the biggest difference. Last time was critical. But this time it’s life and death in terms of America as we know it.”
Dr. Ben Carson smiles and shakes hands with local residents during a book-signing event in Florida in November.(George Horsford/Daily Sun via AP) 
