Posted on 12/08/2015 7:10:26 PM PST by BlackFemaleArmyColonel
If all 68 percent of those "Trump or bust" likely Republican voters are telling the truth about sticking with him if he runs third-party, we're looking at something like 17-20 percent of the total vote next November going to Trump, way more than enough to wreck the GOP's chances. Even if half of them end up deciding to either stay home or vote for the Republican nominee in the interest of beating Hillary, that's still upwards of 10 percent breaking away.
There are X factors, though. One X factor is Trump's dynamism on the stump. If he campaigned aggressively as a third-party nominee, with the sort of frequent big rallies he's doing now, the contrast with Hillary's "low energy" campaign and whatever the GOP nominee is doing might drive extra votes to him. I wouldn't put it past him to get 25 percent, especially if he finally opens his wallet to buy ads and build a national organization.
But that'll be countered by another X factor: It's hard to predict how much free airtime the media will continue to give him during a general election. Letting him on the air to ramble for half an hour about barring Muslims is a perfectly sensible thing for MSNBC to do right now, when the GOP is at each other's throats. The more he talks, the more divided their enemy is.
If he went third-party, they'd have to think more carefully. I assume they'd double down early in the general election campaign by giving him a blank check to talk on the air about whatever he likes, hoping to drive attention away from the GOP nominee and towards Trump in the name of splitting the vote. If he really took off, though, and began to threaten Hillary, they'd cut him off.
(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...
It’s an ENHANCEMENT.
I, too, am in with the 68%!!
If Trump runs third party, he becomes Ross Perot Redux.
Screw the GOPe. They got McCain and Romney and both lost to a weak candidate.
Now they want Jeb - the only guy Hillary can beat.
No thanks.
Perot all over again.......Hello! Hillary.
Trump or Jethro or Cankles?
Decisions, decisions.
The ball is in your court. What are you going to do now, pubbies?
I bet it’s closer to 100%
Say hello to Jeb Bush too.
Finally - SOME chance at SOME “representation”. Count ME in.
HOORAY Trump
Voter fraud concerns me...
If they cut him off, he just buys the time.
BTW, he should definitely and actively open it up for donations from the people pretty soon. unless he wants to spend a billion of his own money, he’s going to have to.
That number must have the GOPe crowd tasting a bit of bile in the back of their throats.
True. Very true.
The gop should not attack him and be as fair to him as the rest of the candidates
Ross Perot never had the popularity or numbers that Trump has. I think he could pull it off.
So am I !
Perot never intended to win. He received payment-in-kind from the Klinton’s.
As Laura ingraham said, the GOP either destroys itself or nominates Trump
Either way Trump wins. They’re not moving ahead without him
The go along uniparty GOP is done
Yes, he is.
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