Thread: How Trump Outsmarted the GOP

How Trump Outsmarted the GOP

The real estate magnate didn’t just pledge his loyalty to the Republican Party. The GOP pledged itself to Trump.

By Jim Newell

Donald Trump made Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, come to him.

The occasion was Trump’s signing of a so-called loyalty pledge drafted by the RNC and distributed to each of the candidates, but obviously created specifically to corral Trump. The text is brief but comprehensive. “I, [name], affirm that if I do not win the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States I will endorse the 2016 Republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is,” it reads. “I further pledge that I will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate nor will I seek or accept the nomination for president of any other party.”

Each of the candidates will likely sign this piece of paper and submit it to the boss. There are severe consequences for any candidate who breaches this agreement: Priebus will … give that candidate a look of disappointment, expressing displeasure. Perhaps Priebus will even issue a statement expressing his displeasure.

In other words, there are no hard consequences for breaking this pledge. A candidate runs the risk of being labeled A Guy Who Breaks Pledges. But come now; if Trump were to run as an independent, he would simply come out and say that it was Priebus, the crooked establishment Republican Beltway insider fat cat, who reneged on the terms of the pledge by calling him a name, real or imagined. “I have no intention of changing my mind,” Trump said at his Thursday afternoon press conference in Trump Tower, following Priebus’ departure. And sure, that’s a statement of fact: Who has ever intended to change his mind?

The Republican Party has now committed itself to supporting an agenda that goes against decades of its own dogma.

This is not the pledge that matters. Instead it was the Republican parties of certain states, most notably South Carolina, that brought Trump to a decision point. Palmetto State GOP leaders made inclusion on its primary ballot conditional on the signing of a loyalty pledge by Sept. 30. Trump was compelled to sign that and other pledges to get on the ballots. Priebus is just formalizing the states’ dirty work, like any good small-government federalist would. And as soon as primary season ends, Trump could break most of the state pledges, too.

And yet, why would he? The logic behind a Trump independent run doesn’t hold up on the most basic level. If he remains atop the polls as time goes on—and his ceiling for support keeps growing—he will win the Republican nomination. If he collapses, then he collapses, and he no longer has the political support to make an independent presidential bid a worthwhile expenditure of personal resources.

Still, there’s too much on the line for Priebus and fellow custodians of the GOP presidential nomination process to call Trump’s bluff. If Trump were to launch an independent bid, even one that attracted few percentage points, that would likely be the ballgame for the Republican Party. This dynamic left Priebus and state party leaders in a desperate position to do whatever was necessary to get Trump to sign a loyalty pledge and then pray that hopefully, hopefully it means enough to the real estate magnate that he feels compelled to honor his word.

Priebus’ visit to Trump Tower further cements this reality television star’s transformation into a “real” presidential candidate who cannot be ignored or laughed off as the cycle deepens. And though Trump has signed this piece of paper saying he will and won’t do certain things next year, he has not signed any piece of paper requiring him to disavow the unorthodox nationalist, protectionist, tax increase–supporting agenda with which he’s carved his sizable lane. The Republican Party, however, has now committed itself to supporting this agenda, which goes against decades of its own dogma, if Trump is able to pull off the nomination. Most of today’s news has been framed as Trump signs pledge to support eventual nominee. Another way to look at it is Establishment Republican candidates pledge to support Donald Trump. Trump has not pledged to incorporate into his candidacy any of the cheerier tones or traditional Republican policies that the GOP establishment would like to see from him. The Republican Party, though, has agreed to incorporate Trump.

Top Comment

This is a lot like the abstinence pledge I signed in 8th grade: just a total lie signed in bad faith to appease people who were bothering me. More...

In bringing his politics into the fold, the GOP has also handed Trump a shield just when he might need it. Jeb Bush’s campaign has begun the offensive against Trump’s political past, putting together a montage of Trump over the years stating that he’s pro-choice, a friend and admirer of Hillary Clinton’s, and an advocate for a single-payer health care system—all delivered with the same phony conviction that he wields now to emphasize the opposite. Now, when Bush or whoever else uses these attacks against Trump on the trail or at the next debate, Trump can fire right back: Didn’t you see Reince Priebus come to my office? Didn’t you see me just pledge my support to the Republican nominee? If I were a liberal, why would I do that?

“I will be totally pledging my allegiance,” Trump stated Thursday, in one of his most devilishly Trumpian formulations yet, “to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands.” And the Republican Party has pledged its allegiance to him.

Jim Newell is a Slate staff writer. Follow him on Twitter.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...al_estate.html

Consider this: In June of 2014 the RINO, Thad Cochran, almost lost a run off election with a conservative challenger Chris McCaniel. Instead of staying neutral in a fight between Republicans, the Republican Senatorial Committee threw its full weight behind the RINO’s boy Cochran and had a big shot fund raiser for him that raised $820,000, this when Mc Daniel had only $60,000 to run his campaign. This along with extremely dirty campaign tricks by Cochran (he openly recruited Democrats to interfere in the GOP election by voting for him) enabled him to barely win. The silence from the GOP establishment about the Democrats voting was deafening.

Being aware of that dirty 2014 Senatorial election, I suspect that Donald Trump insisted on and got the GOP establishment to agree to strict neutrality in the fight between him and their favorite RINO Jeb Bush. That in exchange for Trump not running as a third party candidate.

Also has anyone considered that Donald Trump has intended all along to pledge his support to the GOP and not run as a third party spoiler? Is this an example of Trump the consummate deal maker? By withholding a pledge and keeping people guessing about a third party run, he was able not only to get assured GOP party neutrality but also get a lot of news media attention for himself, pushing the other candidates into the background. By being cagey Trump got a lot of publicity and a lot of news media coverage and it didn’t cost him a dime. Can it be that Trump took a calculated gamble that might have jeopardize the support of hardcore GOP voters to potentially achieve a greater prize than good will from the party faithful, a gamble that he would ultimately gain more by not immediately promising blind party loyalty? Did the Donald not refer to it as a“bargaining chip?” Now those hardcore GOP voters will certainly view Trump favorably so what has he lost? Nothing.

Is this the art of the deal being performed in politics? Perhaps a good deal maker should be willing to walk away from negotiations (at least temporarily). Trump got all of this stuff just by temporarily withholding a pledge of GOP loyalty. I think Donald Trump is much shrewder than most people realize. And it causes me believe he would be a great president. I believe that Trump is a man who knows how to negotiate with Congressional politicians or foreign governments and get a good deal for America.

TRUMP 2016 MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! AMERICAN JOBS FOR AMERICANS!

Good luck trump
we want our country back & you are the only one that can do this