Posted on 08/03/2015 9:00:59 AM PDT by ek_hornbeck
Donald Trump keeps warning the Republican National Committee to treat him “fairly” and “with respect” during the primary, or else he might run in the general election as an independent. This is meant to be a threat, but it’s a fairly empty one. Trump is a bigger threat to the party on the inside than on the outside.
Today, Trump looks like a populism-spouting insurgent with the potential to split the party, giving Republicans cause to keep him in the fold. But that’s because for the moment, he’s running in a Republican primary, solely focused on conservative base voters.
Running as an independent, Trump’s calculus changes. He would then want to pick off votes wherever he could find them, regardless of party affiliation or ideological bent. He would look more like the last billionaire populist to pursue the White House: Ross Perot.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
Polls of Perot voters don't support your claim. And even if what you say were true, I can't get all worked up about it. GHW Bush and Bob Dole (did Perot have a personal grudge against him too??) weren't all that much better than Bill Clinton on most issues.
If only someone had come along and beat GHW Bush in the 1988 GOP primaries, we would have been spared their whole political dynasty.
If only Reagan didn’t have him on the ticket in the first place.
Bush 41 lost when he broke his pledge on no new taxes. Clinton hammered him daily on that.
Exactly!
The GOP has a propensity for choosing crap candidates...candidates who don’t even support the GOP Platform. And if they don’t get elected, we “purists” get blamed.
BTW, I voted for Keyes.
Perot voters loved him. I am not talking about them except to say they were duped. Perot intention was to defeat Bush and he succeeded.
Not the issue for everyone who refused to hold their nose and vote for him.
By that point his connection to the global government crowd was becoming well-documented and a lot of people were furious over allowing Sadam Hussein to retain Iraq.
There was a confluence of factors against HWB.
Dems don’t do stupid stuff like that.
Or if they tried to, the Mob would sit them down for a “talk”
Not a chance.
Dems have a lock on 40%...but as in 1992 that 40% means 370 electoral votes.
You can drop the "guess" word from your last sentence. People are very sick of the Beltway thugs.
I've seen half a dozen situations as you described that tells me the same.
Too many people are tired of having to eat the next warm bowl of $hit being served up by politicians.
Try this article for perspective http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2016/how_big_a_third_party_threat_is_trump
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.