With Republican hopefuls for the 2012 election beginning to assemble, one individual just cannot seem to go away, and will likely be making a run—or at least attempt to.
For a few months, Donald Trump has been toying with the idea of running for president. For the sake of my party and the country, I am praying he does not.
Trump discussed his running options in a video interview with the Wall Street Journal last week.
“The concern is that if I don’t win [the GOP primary], will I run as an independent and the answer is probably yes,” Trump said.
For many Republicans, I’m sure this gives flashbacks of the 1992 election, in which Republican nominee George H.W. Bush faced off against not only Democrat Bill Clinton, but also Independent Ross Perot, the businessman from Texas.
At the time, Perot had more money than he knew what to do with. He was able to essentially self–finance his entire campaign and stay in the race until the very end. He did the same thing in 1996.
Perot stayed afloat by airing commercials on primetime television about his ideas and what set him apart from the other candidates.
Although he didn’t win any states, nor any electoral votes, he still took almost 20 million votes from Clinton and Bush.
While historians and election pundits still debate whether he really impacted those elections, most people agree that regardless of intentions, Perot was a pain in the side for both candidates.
I’m afraid that Trump is going to do the same thing.
What worries me about Trump is that his self-inflating tendencies may make him a loose cannon for the Republican Party and a stain on the 2012 election.
It is also unfortunate that he is trying to make a political name for himself by attacking President Obama’s birth records and boasts about being in league with the “birthers,” a faction of society demanding to see the president’s birth certificate.
Trump has spent an unusual amount of time on this subject, even sending “investigators” to Hawaii to look for the document.
I’m sorry, but if you are running for president and not really an American citizen, people are going to discover the truth well before you actually win the presidency.
I think any Republican or moderate considering Trump as a candidate needs to step back and look at their options.
On April 11, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced the creation of his presidential exploratory committee. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty has been stumping around the country too.
For now, I think “The Donald” should stay focused on his floundering casinos and reality show.
