Two ‘Second-Tier’ Republicans Enter Race For President

Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and conservative pundit, has confirmed that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.

Carson, who has never run for public office, is expected to be the only high-profile African-American to enter the GOP’s presidential primary as he tries to use his success as an author and speaker into a competitive campaign against established politicians.

“I’m willing to be part of the equation and therefore, I’m announcing my candidacy for president of the United States of America,” he said in an interview Sunday night on Ohio’s WKRC television station.

He plans to make a more formal announcement during a speech from his native Detroit on Monday.

Carly Fiorina made her 2016 presidential plans official Monday morning, announcing her candidacy on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

She will also be running as a Republican candidate.

Actually, she first declared her candidacy via Twitter just minutes before making her television appearance, tweeting a link to the newly minted Carlyforpresident.com.

Fiorina was the CEO of Hewlett-Packard from 1999 to 2005, according to MSNBC, and would run as a Republican candidate.  Fiorina ran for the U.S. Senate in California in 2010, losing to the incumbent, Democrat Barbara Boxer.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/politicsnow/la-pn-fiorina-carson-presidential-campaign-20150501-story.html

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/here-s-where-carly-fiorina-gets-her-campaign-money-141956879.html

Southern Poverty Law Center Takes Dr. Ben Carson Off ‘Extremist Watch List,’ Apologizes

The Southern Poverty Law Center removed Dr. Ben Carson, M.D., from its “extremist watch list” and apologized to the potential GOP presidential candidate.

Carson was originally put on the list because of what the SPLC called his “anti-LGBT” views, according to Mediaite.

The list includes notorious neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

“This week, as we’ve come under intense criticism for doing so, we’ve reviewed our profile and have concluded that it did not meet our standards, so we have taken it down and apologize to Dr. Carson for having posted it,” the SPLC wrote in a statement.

The statement still stated that the SPLC still believes Carson has “made a number of statements that express views that we believe most people would conclude are extreme.”