Ben Carson ‘Makes Big Impression’ at Sharpton’s NAN Convention

While there was far more than skepticism waiting for Republican Dr. Ben Carson at “the Al Sharpton-led National Action Network’s annual convention in New York City,” at the end of the day, he won quite a few people over and several were “clamoring” to shake the hand of the potential Republican candidate for the White House in 2016. The Christian Post reports:

In introducing Carson to the crowd Wednesday evening, A.R. Bernard, a political kingmaker in New York City and senior pastor and founder of the Christian Cultural Center megachurch in Brooklyn, called him “a leader.”

“After 36 years of pastoring in New York City, I discovered there are four things God wants from a man: maturity, decisiveness, consistency and strength. After 43 years of marriage, I’ve discovered there are four things women want from a man: maturity, decisiveness, consistency and strength. I also discovered that the four things that men struggle with in life are: maturity, decisiveness, consistency and strength,” Bernard said to laughter.

“But what I really discovered is that these are the qualities that people look for in a leader. Dr. Carson is one of those leaders,” he said.

At the end of his soaring, sober and inspiring oratory, Carson had convinced at least one man in the crowd that he was worthy of his vote if he should ask him for it.

“He’s got my vote,” New Jersey resident Clayton Young said after hearing Carson speak Wednesday.

Even Sharpton had at least some nice words for Carson. Full audio of his speech is available here.

“Dr. Ben Carson and I don’t agree on a lot. We probably don’t even agree that today is Wednesday,” said Sharpton as the crowd waited to hear from the doctor. “I have always respected and admired what he did in the medical field. He is truly someone that I respect, and I respect the fact that even though we disagree on politics and on the president and other things that I believe, he was sincere in what he said. … I do expect people to say what they believe and be sincere.”

When he was done, everyone was laughing and seemed at ease until pastor Bernard got up to introduce Carson. As Bernard relayed Carson’s rags to riches narrative the audience hung on to every detail in surprising reverence, punctuating it with only cheers when his inspiring story moved them to do so.