Republicans shouldn't worry about the longevity of GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's popularity. There won't be any.
It's the longevity of his ego that's the real problem.
Stay with me for a minute.
Trump is loving his front-runner status. Loving his boast of greater riches than Forbes gives him credit for. Loving the raspberries he blows in the faces of legitimate presidential candidates.
Studying the man -- getting to know him as we have -- do you really think when the curtain falls on his novelty, this loudmouth showman who loves cameras like a son loves his mother is going to believe he's done?
No. He's going to want to stay in the game. He's a player. He's had a tantalizing glimpse of the Promised Land.
The real fear Republicans should have is Trump listening to the diehards in his camp urging him to fight on as an Independent.
Trump as a third-party candidate. That's the thought that should scare the pants off Republicans angling to regain the White House.
Certainly I'm not the first to think about this. In July Trump himself artfully raised the possibility of making a run as a third-party candidate during an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. He later told The Hill newspaper that his decision will depend on "how I'm being treated by the Republicans."
"I don't need donations like other party candidates," he said in a televison interview. "I'm really rich."
CNN calls this "a potential nightmare scenario for the GOP establishment: a populist outsider with unlimited resources attacking their nominee from the right in the general election, raising hell -- and attracting votes -- with his rhetoric on issues like illegal immigration."
Mostly, though, the talk of Trump going Independent has died down in the last week. But not for me.
My alarm bells are still going off. I don't think it matters how well the Republican National Committee treats him, at age 69, Donald Trump -- one of the Republican Party's biggest self-promoters -- wants to see his name on a presidential ballot.
Last week as he exploded on top of the polls, called himself "more than a movement," blustered over dipping into his own nebulous personal fortune ("This costs me a lot of money but I don't care, I want to see our country be great again"), it was as plain as the nose on his face -- he has a taste in his mouth for the Oval Office that isn't going away.
Think of how a third-party candidacy from Trump would damage Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. According to a July 20 ABC News/Washington Post poll, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton leads Bush 50 percent to 44 percent in a head-to-head match-up. But throw an independent Trump into the race, and Clinton's lead grows to 46 percent, leaving Bush at 30 percent.
Overcoming a 6-point lead, doable. Overcoming 16 points, herculean.
Trump is right about one thing: He has unleashed hope and passion for change in many Americans. And the sound is getting louder. Just listen to his audiences when he talks about bringing jobs home from China.
Watching Trump for as long as I have -- never mind his lack of experience in virtually any phase of government -- I just can't see him letting go of the belief that he is the savior America has been waiting for.
I have no idea how he will ever be convinced to go away.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
