There’s been quite a bit of talk in the wake of last night’s elections about how nationalized our politics has become. All politics is no longer local, as elections from Virginia to Kentucky and beyond have turned into referenda on whichever party holds the White House. Corn subsidies have moved down voters’ priorities list in Iowa; illegal immigration — despite the fact that Des Moines is closer to our Canadian border than it is to our Mexican border — has moved up.

Nowhere is this more apparent, apparently, than in Ben Carson’s ascent in the Republican primary, which he now leads. Despite the fact that Carson is registered to vote in Florida, having bought a house in West Palm Beach in 2013 that he presumably lives in from time to time, he doesn’t pretend to know the first thing about national policies that have specific effects on his state. From the Miami Herald:

“I’m a little different than most of the candidates,” Carson the author told the Miami Herald in a phone interview Wednesday. “I’m looking more nationally at everything that’s going on across the country.” Before Carson the candidate campaigns to Miami-Dade County’s Cuban-American Republicans, though, he might have a little catching up to do. Carson’s national approach means he didn’t take a close look ahead of his trip at a key issue in local politics: U.S.-Cuba policy. In the Herald interview, Carson appeared stumped by questions about the so-called wet-foot, dry-foot policy, which allows Cubans who reach U.S. soil to remain here, and about the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows Cubans who arrive in the U.S. to apply for legal residency after 366 days. He was candid about not being up to speed.

In earlier years, something like this might have been a big issue, even if Carson wasn’t from Florida. This year, it’s par for the course. I’d bet that Donald Trump, who, while not registered vote in Florida, owns quite a bit of property there, also doesn’t have well-articulated thoughts or feelings about the Cuban Adjustment Act. And I’d be that if asked about it he would, like Carson, pivot to talking about how disastrous our overarching policy toward Cuba is because reasons. The only difference would be that Trump would pretend to know what the questioner was talking about; Carson at least admits he doesn’t have a clue.

These aren’t “gotcha” questions. These are questions about hotly-contested issues that the next president will be expected to engage with from day one. The other candidates from Florida — Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush — have no problem answering questions about the Cuban Adjustment Act; Ben Carson has no reason to be proud that he’s not up to speed.