Ian wrote:
And there's a conspiracy theory making the rounds in conservative circles that Trump is really running his campaign on behalf of Hillary Clinton. Hillary apparently had a front-row seat at his last wedding. And who else is benefitting so much from his candidacy besides her? Not that I'm prone to buying into conspiracy theories, but if this one were to be proven true I wouldn't be completely astonished.
The conspiracy theory is looking a bit less ridiculous...
Bill Clinton called Trump ahead of his 2016 launch
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... ?tid=sm_fb
Former president Bill Clinton had a private telephone conversation in late spring with Donald Trump at the same time that the billionaire investor and reality-television star was nearing a decision to run for the White House, according to associates of both men.
Four Trump allies and one Clinton associate familiar with the exchange said that Clinton encouraged Trump’s efforts to play a larger role in the Republican Party and offered his own views of the political landscape.
Clinton’s personal office in New York confirmed that the call occurred in late May, but an aide to Clinton said the 2016 race was never specifically discussed and that it was only a casual chat.
So if there's anything at all to this (and I still doubt it), here's the question: is Trump consciously running as a spoiler on behalf of the Clintons, or is he dumber than he looks and was partly talked into running by people who know he cannot win? Here's how to answer that question, assuming you believe in this theory: watch Trump during tomorrow night's debate. The invisible 11th candidate on stage will be Hillary Clinton, and plenty of the chuckleheads running for the nomination will spend a fair amount of time bashing her as they try to make the case that they're the man to beat her in the general election. Let's see if Trump spends more of his venom attacking his opponents... or, if he does attack her, does he go too lightly or outlandishly over-the-top?
Another factor supporting the conspiracy theory: Hillary's ties to the NYC financial community (i.e. Trump's back yard). You'll never hear someone like Seth admit to it, but Hillary's very close to Wall Street. Those Democrats who are thus far reluctant to support her (including me, kinda) aren't worried that she's too liberal, it's just the reverse. They're the crowds clustered around Bernie Sanders. If they were worried that she's too much of a leftie, they'd be flocking to a more conservative Democrat like Jim Webb (betcha didn't even know he was running?).
Anyway, I'll drop the conspiracy theories and move on to actual theories, like... what happens when Trump finally realizes that he's not going to be the nominee? (He won't; the RNC would sooner commit seppuku than allow him to snag their party's nomination. They have some nuclear options to prevent it.). He won't be obligated to drop out due to lack of money. He could either gracefully quit (and does that sound like Donald Trump?), or he could run as a 3rd party independent, which would be the one and only thing even more nightmarish for the Republicans than having him as their nominee.
These speculations are making what would otherwise be an especially pathetic election cycle a lot more interesting.
