While a portion of the American populace might be enamored with the straight shootin’ real talk of real estate mogul and reality television star Donald Trump, the Republican party seems mortified of presenting Donald Trump as their candidate. Stuff like Trump’s suggestion to ban Muslims which helped to grab headlines early on in his campaigning has raised some red flags, but perhaps the party never saw him making it this far, because they haven’t really hit the panic button until now. How much of a panic, you might ask?
The GOP is actively seeking alternative candidates to run as an independent against Trump in hopes of keeping him from the White House. If this sounds like some sort of far-fetched conspiracy theory where Republicans somehow want Hillary Clinton to be President, it apparently isn’t. According to the Washington Post, the party has been looking into candidates like Ben Sasse or even the recent drop-out from the race in John Kasich. One of the more interesting names bandied about has to be Mark Cuban. Yes, Shark Tank Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.
The idea is that Cuban has a similar background in reality television, a similar profile and following in the world of pop culture and could appeal to the same audience looking for deviation from the norm. The ever-accessible Cuban (I’ve actually had weird, late night email exchanges with Cuban over stuff from his television network, AXS TV) believes that he’d be able to handle Trump’s talk and dish it back, but that it’s too little, too late.
“He could come after me all he wanted, and he knows I would put him in his place,” Cuban said of Trump. “All that said, again, I don’t see it happening. There isn’t enough time.”
That would actually be a pretty interesting race, wouldn’t it? Shark Tank vs. The Apprentice. My god, that’s what America’s political system has turned into, a hope that we could see rich reality television guys battle it out to be the most powerful man in the free world.
(via The Washington Post)