I don't see Trump running as an independent if he loses the GOP nomination. He would certainly lose, and he doesn't like losing. I think it's more likely he would condemn the elites, the globalists, the RINOs and other evil doers who cheated him out of the nomination that he "actually" won, and would urge his followers to sit out the general election.
Great post. The Trump v. DeSantis surveys are polls apart, and they're breaking in DeSantis' direction. As far as Trump running as an independent, though, won't he face filing deadlines if he stays in the Republican contest too long? Jim Dueholm
Anecdote: Here in deep red rural Missouri, Trump signs and flags that have been displayed continuously around the area where I live since the 2020 election are now gone. I no longer see the occasional Trump flag boldly flying from the bed of a pickup. The midterm results have been a bucket of ice water thrown on the expectations of the owners of those signs and flags. And Trump's latest public pronouncements have not stoked the old enthusiasm that I can see. If this is representative, then Trump, I think, is finished politically.
At some point, the mountain Trump will have to climb to return to the White House is seen to be too high and steep and I think that point has already come for many of his past supporters as flags have been furled. But I also think that these voters still want what Trump was selling and many won't come out and vote for yesterday's man. The days when a Romney, Bush, Cruz, Rubio, Haley or other establishment Republican can take those voters for granted are over. Well and truly. And running the same old campaign promises and platform items as before will only increase the likelihood of a Trump run because he'll see the opening he saw and exploited in 2016. It won't work as it did last time because the last time was a example of political syzygy, but he'll try.
I don't see Trump running as an independent if he loses the GOP nomination. He would certainly lose, and he doesn't like losing. I think it's more likely he would condemn the elites, the globalists, the RINOs and other evil doers who cheated him out of the nomination that he "actually" won, and would urge his followers to sit out the general election.
Great post. The Trump v. DeSantis surveys are polls apart, and they're breaking in DeSantis' direction. As far as Trump running as an independent, though, won't he face filing deadlines if he stays in the Republican contest too long? Jim Dueholm
Anecdote: Here in deep red rural Missouri, Trump signs and flags that have been displayed continuously around the area where I live since the 2020 election are now gone. I no longer see the occasional Trump flag boldly flying from the bed of a pickup. The midterm results have been a bucket of ice water thrown on the expectations of the owners of those signs and flags. And Trump's latest public pronouncements have not stoked the old enthusiasm that I can see. If this is representative, then Trump, I think, is finished politically.
At some point, the mountain Trump will have to climb to return to the White House is seen to be too high and steep and I think that point has already come for many of his past supporters as flags have been furled. But I also think that these voters still want what Trump was selling and many won't come out and vote for yesterday's man. The days when a Romney, Bush, Cruz, Rubio, Haley or other establishment Republican can take those voters for granted are over. Well and truly. And running the same old campaign promises and platform items as before will only increase the likelihood of a Trump run because he'll see the opening he saw and exploited in 2016. It won't work as it did last time because the last time was a example of political syzygy, but he'll try.