After 500 comments about his prison-sex theory of orientation, I figured you’d be interested in an update. Having taken a ferocious beating in the media for the better part of a day, Carson finally says no mas:

“I also believe that our Constitution protects everybody, regardless of their beliefs, and that includes people who are gay,” Mr. Carson continued. “I have no problem with them doing whatever they want to do. I’m just not willing to change the definition of marriage for anybody, because once you do that, you have to change it for everyone else who comes along. Why would we want to do that? We have something that’s worked for thousands of years to create a nurturing environment for raising children. And I think that’s where we ought to leave it.”

He added: “I simply have decided I’m not going to really talk about that issue anymore, because every time I gain momentum, the liberal press says, ‘let’s talk about gay rights.’ I’m just not going to fall for that anymore.”

Okay, but that’s like Jeb Bush deciding he’s not going to talk about amnesty anymore. It’s one of his pet issues. He’s beloved by his supporters because of his opinion on that particular topic. Ben Carson muting his social conservatism on the most hot-button social issue of the day makes him Mike Huckabee minus the boldness (and executive experience), a major flaw for a guy running as an “outsider.” If you like Carson, chances are you like him precisely because he’s not a politician and therefore more likely to speak candidly about his opinions when asked. He’s the one you turn to for Common Sense that cuts through political niceties. What’s the point of passing on Ted Cruz or Huckabee and rolling the dice on Carson if his attitude towards plainspoken debate with the media on gay marriage going forward is “yeah, pass”?

Say this for him, though: He’s going to end up making a lot of consultants very, very rich. Not Bush-level rich, but still. Click the image to listen.