Donald Trump Considering Taking Pledge Not to Run as Third-Party Candidate

ABC News/Good Morning America ^ | 8/10/15 | Jon Karl

[tellw]

Donald Trump may soon do what Republican leaders have been asking the billionaire candidate to do -- pledge not to run as an independent candidate for president, a senior Trump adviser told ABC News.

Trump refused to take that pledge at the start of Thursday's GOP debate but is now seriously considering promising not to run as an independent if he does not win the Republican nomination, the adviser said.

[annieokie]

lol, sort of.......lol

[McGruff]

It would be a bad move on his part. Why throw away your Trump card. I wouldn’t trust the RNC as far as I could throw them.

[ironman]

Trump wrote the Art of the Deal. This could be fun to watch play out.

[Ohioan]

I agree, he should not take that pledge. He should stick to the concept that he will not run as a Third Party candidate, so long as the Party nominee is someone whom he can respect. To go beyond that is to put Party ahead of the Constitution, ahead of the American people, who expect that that Constitution must be respected.

The decline in honor among many Republicans in Washington--do we exaggerate(?)--makes a Party "right or wrong" pledge, itself, an implicit betrayal.

[kabar]

Trump can always break his pledge citing it. Much ado about nothing. Trump will make the pledge when it suits him the best.

[annieokie]

Mr. Trump will you agree to take the Pledge?

Trump: ok, I agree......

That's great Mr. Trump now do you want to write Mr. Bush a check now or do you want to mail it to him?

[Mouton]

I think he should not take that pledge. The GOPe will ensure he does not get the nomination. That is why the two party system is ridicules, it ensures the party, not the voters, have the last word and right now the corrupt GOP is not going to let him, or Cruz, get the nomination. A brokered convention to a guy who has taken a no third party run pledge is a political death wish.

I think his exact wording to the question raised last week about the 3rd party is he would not run a third party if he felt the process, party, were fair to him. In his view, my guess is he feels they have not been fair, in fact, they have conspired against him. Funny, I don’t think when they began their conspiracies, he was on their minds, I think they feared Cruz.

[thefactor]

What you say is true, yet it doesn't matter. The Democrats have a solidified base that will vote for them in droves no matter what controversy surrounds their candidate. I'm amazed the previous elections have been as close as they have been.

If we split to a third party it will be a disaster. And to those who say, "I hope Trump goes third party and diverts enough votes so the GOP establishment will see that we mean business!" is the dumbest thing I've heard.

[Ohioan]

Hillary will withdraw by December. She is demonstrating her increasing inability to connect with voters, daily. If the Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders, a Third Party properly funded, could probably beat any Republican but Trump, Cruz, Kasich or Walker, with Bernie coming in Third.

[gunnyg]

Bottom Line:

Does Mr Trump see his country over his potty or vice versa???
The true answer is very telling, if heard!

Dick G
***

[Envisioning]

Trump said when asked to raise his hand in the pledge that it would depend on who won the nomination. The others (ALL OF THEM) all pledged to support Jeb Bush if he got the nomination. GO TRUMP!

Yep. I was disappointed no one else, especially Cruz, didn't raise their hand.

This ain't politics as usual this time around boys and girls. We are playing for keeps whether people realize it or not.

[9YearLurker]

Yeah, that’s probably about it.

[Logical me]

Trump knows that if he runs an an independent he will not win. He will only split the vote between Republican voters and the Democrat will win. Currently the Democrats have bought most of the voters, including illegals, and it is just too close. No matter who wins the Republican nomination we must tuck in pride and all vote for that person if necessary.

[jjsheridan5]

The stickiness of the Democrat vote is the most overplayed hand out there. Yes, there is a section of the Democrat vote which is built in. But there is no evidence that it is as great as the people like Rove claim. (People like Rove make this claim, in order to justify their turning easy wins into hard ones, and winnable into losing). For nearly 30 years, we have been churning out establishment Republican candidates, that, by their nature, have zero appeal to the semi- or non-conservative wings of the Reagan coalition (blue collar democrats, working class blacks/hispanics, non/semi religious white females). On the rare occasion that a non-establishment candidate wins, say, a senate primary, they find themselves fighting not just one, but two political parties. Basically, this whole "solidified base" nonsense is just that. There are droves of disaffected democrats. It is just that the Republicans never offer them a choice.

You shouldn't be amazed that the elections have been that close. You should be amazed that people still buy into what the Rovian DC establishment has been selling them.

[over3Owithabrain]

The adviser said he “may” pledge. Trump never said he never would, he said he wanted leverage. Maybe behind the scenes Reibus is dealing with Trump. Who knows but I would definitely not assume this is just Trump caving he doesn’t do that. He deals.

[thefactor]

Your scenario would be absolutely historic. The Democratic front-runner pulls out, and a third party non-politician wins the election. Sorry, I just don’t see all of that happening.

[Tanniker Smith]

They'll call it hedging, but he should reiterate that he won't bolt if he's treated fairly in the primary process.

If he loses fair and square (which I assume will happen), then he shouldn't bolt. He won't have the support in that case to make a difference, except as a possible spoiler.

(Generally speaking, frontrunners this far out don't usually make it to the nomination. And his bluster and rhetoric will get old. Hopefully, someone else who can talk the talk and walk the walk on the important issues will rise up in the polls.)

[jjsheridan5]

And to those who say, "I hope Trump goes third party and diverts enough votes so the GOP establishment will see that we mean business!" is the dumbest thing I've heard.

I haven't heard anyone say that. I'm not saying that people aren't saying that, just that I haven't heard it. What I have heard people say is that the GOPe is as anti-conservative as every other wing of the DC cartel, and, because of their phony "closeness" to conservatism, create the most damage to conservatism. As far as 3rd party, what I have heard is, paraphrased: "Trump cannot remove that option, or the GOPe will cheat without hesitation, and will cheat as much as they have to in order to ensure that their anti-conservative block remains in complete control." A far cry from: "I hope Trump goes third party and diverts enough votes so the GOP establishment will see that we mean business!"

[Georgia Girl 2]

As much as I understand why Trump has not taken the pledge up to now it may be time to do it. We need to get on with the election.

[Aleya2Fairlie]

Now you’re going to see ALL the news media break out their last and best hope of putting down and neutralizing Donald Trump; Lying, pure and simple.

From here on, it will be extremely difficult for the average citizen to get at anything that is anywhere near the truth as far as the Presidential race is concerned. Beware! The powers that be intend to win and to do it at any cost and by any means necessary. Donald Trump needs all the protection he can muster(he shouldn’t necessarily trust the Secret Service to do it all). He’s most likely in the most dangerous position of anyone in the world right now.