Say what you will about Donald Trump — and by now everybody has said plenty — you have to admit he knows how to keep out front of the news cycle, driving it rather than reacting to it. Case in point:
At a town hall today in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, Donald Trump floated the idea — without explicitly threatening to do so — that he may run as an independent candidate. Trump attacked the Republican National Committee, saying it “better get its act together” and it “does a terrible job.” Trump said he believes the RNC treated him unfairly.
Trump also went off on the crowd that booed him during Saturday night’s GOP debate in South Carolina: “Look at it, that was a wealthy room. The whole room was made of special interests and donors, which is a disgrace from the RNC,” Trump said. “The RNC better get its act together because, you know, I signed a pledge. The pledge isn’t being honored by the RNC.”
Trump signed an RNC pledge in September, agreeing not to run a third-party candidacy and to support the eventual Republican nominee. “I signed a pledge, but it’s a double-edged pledge. As far as I’m concerned, they’re in default on their pledge,” Trump said of the RNC.
I’m still surprised by how few froth-mouthed commentators grasp the essential nature of the Trump campaign: to keep his foes constantly off-balance, to own what most would disown, to attack from unexpected quarters, including below the belt. He may not win, but it’s a hell of a show.
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