( CNN ) -- Like giddy teenagers , Republican activists have fallen for another charming , personable and accomplished black conservative . Dr. Ben Carson is the newest object of their crush , which was born of a desperate need to attract more black men and women as high-profile standard-bearers . You ca n't blame Republican loyalists for swooning over the doc , a renowned surgeon who rose from poverty to head pediatric neurosurgery at Baltimore 's famed Johns Hopkins Hospital . If wooing voters of color were simply a matter of finding an attractive black face with an inspiring personal story and an impressive resume , Carson would be hard to beat . But black voters tend to be more discerning than that . They have shown an unerring instinct for rejecting condescension and dismissing tokenism . There are many black Americans who admire Carson for his professional accomplishments ( I 'm one of them ) , but that admiration is unlikely to translate into votes . One of the reasons is that Carson does n't seem to know black Americans ' political values very well . In his most recent book -- a political tract called `` America the Beautiful : Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great '' -- he writes : `` Many African-Americans voted for Obama simply because he was a black man and not because they resonated philosophically with his policies . '' In fact , black voters have been increasingly allied with the Democratic Party since the 1960s when Lyndon Johnson pushed through significant civil rights legislation . Al Gore received about 95 % of the black vote in 2000 , John Kerry about 93 % in 2004 . Moreover , Carson seems to have adopted the view , popular among so many ultra-conservatives , that the Democratic Party appeals to voters who shun the work ethic . Talking to The New York Times recently about his conservative views , Carson described himself as a `` flaming liberal '' in college who later became disaffected with the Democratic Party . `` One thing I always believed strongly in was personal responsibility and hard work , '' he said . `` I found the Democrat Party leaving me behind on that particular issue . '' That notion -- fallacious though it is -- is at least as popular among black conservatives as among white ones . I 've been hearing it from black Republicans for at least two decades . Several years ago , I interviewed a black conservative running a doomed campaign for a suburban Atlanta congressional district . She had no prior political experience , no policies to advance , no program to sell . Her platform consisted of her belief in hard work , which she contrasted , at least implicitly , with black Democrats ' supposed preference for sloth . That view is as puzzling as it is infuriating . It may charm those white conservatives who hold stereotypical views of black Americans , but it bears little resemblance to the realities that inform their choices at the ballot box . In his memoir , `` Gifted Hands , '' and in his motivational speeches , Carson talks about his impoverished childhood and his remarkable semiliterate mother . Married at 13 only to later divorce her philandering husband , she enforced high academic standards for Carson and his brother while working two or three jobs as a maid or nanny -- and battling debilitating depression . Carson eventually got into Yale and became , at 33 , the youngest person to head a department at Johns Hopkins Hospital . He is famous for separating conjoined twins . That 's a compelling and powerful tale . But it differs from those of other hardworking black people I know only in the degree of success that Carson attained as a result , not in the measures of ambition , industriousness , discipline and self-respect his mother instilled in her children . Yet black Americans know better than to believe those traits are enough to guarantee success . History taught us better . Just look back over the last decade and a half . In 2000 , according to the U.S. census , less than a quarter of black Americans -- 22.5 % -- lived in poverty . By 2010 , that number had risen to 27.4 % . Was there a sudden outbreak of indolence among black folk over that period ? Or were there outside forces that conspired to knock them back down the economic ladder ? As long as the Republican Party refuses to acknowledge that , it will have little to offer workers of color -- and declining appeal to younger whites . They , too , understand the limits of self-reliance . To be helpful to the GOP , Carson would have to remind them of the caprice of capitalism and the generational reach of racism 's barriers . Instead , he sounds like the standard-issue Ayn Rand acolyte , no different from Mitt Romney or Paul Ryan . He opposes the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and supports a flat tax . For good measure , he 's also a religious conservative who disputes evolution . It 's no wonder that conservatives have started to trumpet him as their Great Black Hope . Psychologists believe that romantic interest increases when people mirror each other 's gestures . Carson perfectly reflects the beliefs of his suitors . Still , this romance is unlikely to blossom into a long-lasting love affair . There are too many misunderstandings , too many unspoken expectations , too many half-baked assumptions . And some of those half-based assumptions are Carson 's . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Cynthia Tucker .
Cynthia Tucker : Republicans are desperate for more high-profile black candidates . She says they have swooned over Ben Carson , a renowned surgeon who rose from poverty . Carson has a great life story but puts too much faith in the power of self-reliance , she says . Tucker : Many Americans realize that outside forces also determine success or failure .