Well, this is the fastest way to guarantee that you won’t win the nomination.
“I am very conservative,” said Mr. Trump. “The concern is if I don’t win [the GOP primary] will I run as an independent, and I think the answer is probably yes.” Mr. Trump said he thought he “could possibly win as an independent,” adding, “I’m not doing it for any other reason. I like winning.”
H. Ross Perot, a more successful and arguably even more egotistical businessman than Trump, ran for president twice as an independent, and helped hand Democrat Bill Clinton the election both times. Perot’s 1992 run, in which he pulled about 19% and split the center-right vote with President George H. W. Bush, was likely decisive in helping Clinton win. If Trump really hates what’s happening to the country under Obama, as he claims, then he should drop this nonsense of running as an independent right now. Trump running as an independent all but guarantees that Obama gets another four years. And talking up an independent run makes all the statements Trump has made regarding being a legitimate Republican and conservative sound completely contrived and insincere, and it turns Trump into nothing more than a stalking horse for Obama.
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