I actively supported Perot, wrote letters on his behalf and donated money when he ran. I supported him for three major reasons:
First, his involvement with the POW movement in Vietnam, a subject near and dear to my heart.
Second, his selection of Admiral John Stockdale as his running mate. Admiral Stockdale was, for me, a “broken glass” candidate if there ever was one. A brilliant, principled and honorable man, he was one of my heroes. it was a life goal of mine to meet him and shake his hand, sadly unrealized.
Third, Perot’s apparent acumen as a capitalist and businessman, able to grow a company to highly successful levels and provide jobs for hundreds or thousands of people.
In retrospect, it was the worst political decision I ever made. I discounted the political dynamic, and I do believe regardless of what many said, that his candidacy opened the door to eight hideous years of the grifter Clintons. I regret it to this day.
In my opinion, Trump is Perot without the dogged values of Perot, the support of the military and a man of quality and honor as his running mate. The result will be exactly the same, though the mechanism may be different. Here is how it will happen:
Whether Trump is the primary candidate or a third party candidate, the media, newspapers, television, magazines etc. will be filled with non-hostile puff pieces on Trump. He will get plenty of face time, a lot of it good. It will be very even-handed coverage, if not positive.
If he does not run as a third party candidate outright, the preliminary campaign will be a long, bloody, drawn out internecine battle. The media will make Trump the favorite, especially if Palin or another conservative is the candidate, in order to draw out the battle and drain resources as much as is possible, and cripple one or both candidates to the degree they will be unable to mount a viable campaign against a candidate with a billion or more dollars in his war chest.
Like Obama will have.
Once the general election begins, one of two things will happen: If Trump is the GOP nominee, he will be hammered un-mercilessly from the beginning, and he will fail, because his past in so many ways will be highlighted, explored, delved into, and all of the many foibles, flaws and contradictions (of which there are many, such as the money donated to Rahm Emanuel and his support of government run healthcare in the past) will be brought to light, discussed endlessly by talking heads to the exclusion of anything from the Obama campaign. He is a flawed and ruined candidate from day one, no matter his conservative-sounding statements in the last couple of months.
Obama wins.
But, if Trump is a third party candidate, the kid gloves treatment will continue unabated until election day 2012. Trump will be presented as a very viable candidate for conservatives, but the attraction towards the precious “undecided”, “independent” or “swing” voters will be gently downplayed. This manipulation of the electorate will be carried out while the GOP candidate is pounded for association with the Tea Party values, cutting Medicare and Social Security for the elderly, and so on.
The vote will be split as EVENLY as is possible, and Obama wins.
Don’t doubt me on this, as Rush Limbaugh would say.
Dang. That is JAMES Stockdale, not JOHN. Must have been spell-option or something.
Thank you for that RLMOREL!
That took guts.
That raises the question if any conservative can win with the relentless pounding of the Obama loving media? We already know they’ll turn on their favorite RINO to help out the black communist.
Most of what you say is true. It’s what’s missing that skews some of your predictions. Ross Perot, for all his appeal to Conservatives otherwise, was pro-abortion. This single flaw killed millions of votes, mine one of them. Despite what many of the Ayn-ers say, U. S. Conservatism is now, and always has been, an amalgamation of social, fiscal, foreign, and domestic policy based on a Christian ethos. Since Roe, the GOP has never successfully run a pro-abort candidate, nor has it elected weak or inarticulate pro-life supporters. Think Ford, Bush Sr., Dole, McCain. Yes, McCain’s (and to a lesser extent, Dole’s) voting record recommended him, but interviews on the subject contradicted his bona fides. Bush Sr’s problem was no voting record and Barbara. Perot was bad news on two counts: he not only took votes from Bush, he stifled the Christian vote.
If Trump were a real patriot, he’d throw his considerable wealth and media-magnetism at an electable GOP candidate.