Quote:
Originally Posted by nik-
The best possible outcome is that he runs as an independent and takes his support with him.
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This would actually be a bad thing overall for liberals and progressives as it would have serious down-ticket implications for the election.
Trump supporters would almost certainly vote straight-R for Congress, Senate, State, Governor, Sherrif, Judge, etc. etc. All those gazillion props that come up in American elections. Also, his presence would drive both Conservative independents and committed Republicans to the polls in droves to vote for/against him while Progressives Liberals, and Democrats might stay home, expecting an easy win based on the split-vote on the right.
The US would end up with a Democratic President and every other level of government in the hands of the Republicans even more so than it already is. You'd end up with basically the same situation, total gridlock in Washington as a Republican Congress sent bill after bill to get Vetoed by a Democrat President with a huge mandate who can't get his or her policies enacted other than through executive action, and then violently-red states passing bill after bill rolling back Progressive initiatives: gun-control would be DOA, abortion restrictions would become more stringent, local environmental ordinances would be rolled back, you'd see no new states joining the Obamacare exchanges, etc. etc.
Overall, while an independent Trump candidacy looks good for the Left, it would in fact be terrible and in many ways a net-win for the Right.