Donald Trump sat down with RNC head Reince Priebus and has signed a pledge written up by the Republican National Committee that he will not run as a third party candidate and will support the eventual nominee of the party. Every candidate is being asked to sign on to this, but I have no doubt this was aimed at Donald Trump because of the insurgent nature of his campaign:
“He’s been extremely fair,” Trump said of the Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus who met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York Thursday.
“I’ve wanted fairness. … I just wanted fairness from the Republican Party,” Trump said at a press conference following the meeting.
Trump announced:
Frankly, I felt the absolute best way to win and beat the Democrats, and very easily, I think, beat the Democrats, no matter who it will be … the best way for the Republicans to win is if I win the nomination and go directly against whoever they happen to put up. And for that reason, I have signed the pledge.
The crowd viewing the press conference cheered after Trump’s announcement.
Trump said he would not rip up the pledge at a later date.
“I’ll be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands–and we will go out, and we will fight hard, and we will win,” Trump said.
This is extremely sharp of Trump on several levels.
Yes, it's true that it was necessary to enter several upcoming primaries and get on the ballot as a Republican but Trump had plenty of time for that. The real reason is more subtle.
In the beginning, Trump held off because it was a major advantage for him.Unlike the clueless blowhards at the RNC, he was able to see the tremendous anger that exists at the GOP establishment's weakness and the betrayal of the people that voted a Republican senate into office. And seeing it, Trump was able to channel it, which gave him tremendous poll ratings and support as an outsider. Some of these people actually saw Trump as a replacement for the GOP - or as one person put it, "Trump's not our takeover, he's our murder weapon."
At this point, a significant amount of that support is being clouded by thoughts of what America might be like ruled by Hillary Clinton and/or Elizabeth Warren and/or Bernie Sanders and/or Joe Biden. And how a third party run by Trump might siphon off enough votes from a GOP candidate to give the Democrats the election.
Trump sensed that too, and since he realized he wanted to be president more than he wanted to be this year's Ross Perot, he signed the pledge. It will definitely solidify his support and likely add to it as more people will see him as a serious candidate. Certainly it had that effect on me.Like the canny businessman he is, Donald Trumps milked an advantage to the maximum and discarded it just as it was becoming a disadvantage.
And there's no downside, really. If he doesn't like the results the pledge is not legally binding, so he can still do whatever he wants later if he deems it necessary.
An interesting ticket would be Trump/Cruz. Because of his age, Trump might only serve one term, which would give Cruz an opportunity to learn more about how to work successfully with others and manipulate them into supporting him, something Ronaldus Maximus was a master at and something I've always felt Cruz needed to learn more about in spite of his other stellar qualities.
Moreover, Cruz could help Trump because of his smarts and skill as an attack dog on the campaign trail and his knowledge of law and how government works as opposed to business, something Donald Trump appears to lack.
Stay tuned.
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