Back when Ben Carson was deciding whether to jump into the presidential race, he had strong encouragement from the last black Republican to come out of nowhere to the top of the field: Atlanta's own Herman Cain.
From a Washington Post deep-dive weekend piece on Carson, describing a meeting of black conservatives in the spring of 2013 urging Carson to run:
It was Cain who'd invited Carson to the gathering, and the others suspected an unstated reason.
"It felt as if we were witnessing a passing of the torch," [the Congress of Racial Equality's Niger] Innis says.
The early push from Cain is fascinating, given that Cain has not endorsed Carson -- or any candidate. The WSB-Radio talker has identified six Republican candidates he could support -- including Carson.
Cain gave a warm-up speech for Donald Trump in Norcross in October, then did the same for Carson in Cobb County in December. But he has not thrown his weight behind one GOP hopeful.
One major departure for Carson from the Cain model is in his tax plan, unveiled this morning: A 14.9 percent flat tax just doesn't have the same ring to it as 9-9-9.
(Note: A version of this post appeared in today's Morning Jolt.)
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