Here's why Donald Trump is really starting to scare at least one prominent Republican (Perot 2.0)

Business Insider ^ | July 9, 2015 | Maxwell Tani

[2ndDivisionVet]

By even his own admission, Donald Trump has only a 10-20% chance of becoming the country's next president. And most Republicans don't consider him a threat to win the nomination.

But at least one prominent Republican figure is starting to worry that Trump could end up on the general-election ballot in another way: by running as a third party candidate.

At a meeting of Republican strategists and lobbyists reported by the New York Times on Thursday, former Republican congressman Thomas Davis raised the possibility that Trump could play spoiler as a third-party candidate.

"You've got to keep him in the tent," Davis told the Times. "He's Ross Perot as an independent. He just wreaks havoc, and every vote he takes comes out of our hide."

According to the Times, members at the dinner said that the party needs to tread carefully as not to alienate Trump, who could be inspired to run as an independent candidate if he is shunned by the Republican Party. The dinner meeting featured "some of the capital's leading Republican elected officials, strategists and lobbyists," according to the Times....

[Theoria]

Bush and the GOP were responsible for getting Clinton elected.

The Naitonal debt and the trade policies they push for NAFTA and such were their[GOP] downfall.

Perot merely reflected the country and the time, and he was right then and right now.

The GOP has never addressed such concerns and that is why they are currently fractured. The GOP has driven out the populist[Debt, illegal immigration, trade policies, spending] side of their party to their doom.

[sheikdetailfeather]

I agree. The GOP has determined that they need to b.s. their base to get votes and then toss them aside for big donors and the Chamber once in power. They have hoped the base will believe they cannot do anything until the base gives them more power but the base has correctly determined they are being played. The game is over and will no longer work for them.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: Perot merely reflected the country and the time, and he was right then and right now.

OK, what do you think would have happened had Perot not been in the race?

Would his voters have flocked to Clinton?

[Theoria]

No, like times before, they would have stayed home. He peeled off votes from the R's and D's, but also brought out more voters.

[SaraJohnson]

I think that is what he plans to do. Not to win, but to help Hillary.

[onyx]

Using underhanded methods like they used in Mississippi against McDaniel, false/slanderous advertising, using Democrats voters, etc.

Oh yes, you're right (thanks for explaining that me) and I know that first hand because I live in MS and voted for McDaniel both times.

Dirty RINO Haley Barbour and crew teamed up with old "we've tHAD enough" to cheat Chris out of his rightful election.

[Oatka]

He isn’t going to run against Cruz but he can self finance indefinitely

At some point in his campaign, especially if he has momentum, I'd like to Trump announce something like this: "I have earned enough money to finance my presidential campaign, but I am going to ask Americans to help me out in another way. Please send $1 - and $1 only - to my campaign. Think of it as "early voting". That will send a message to the appeasers on both sides of the aisle - or it will send a message to me (grin)."

I think he'd get so many $1 bills, the others would be jumping out of windows.