I just had this crazy thought that Trump might quit before election

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

Don't ya'll think he's crazy enough to pick up his toys and leave the playground if the polls are showing a blowout down the road?

I can actually entertain such a thought about a presidential candidate, because he's so crazy and unpredictable.

That's scary.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

1. And then for the rest of his life (and ours) we'll have to listen to him boast...

...about how, despite having to drop out for "personal reasons", he would have trounced Hillary, a worse trouncing than any other candidate ever got trounced! The very best trouncing in the history of humanity, in any election anywhere in the world ever and ever!

[PatSeg]

7. Yes

He'd never admit losing.

And if he stays in the race, which he probably will, and he loses to Hillary, it will be because "the system is rigged" (poor Donald, the victim) and "Crooked Hillary" cheated. Maybe there will be a book or two down the road too! What a pathetic human being.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. Do not rule out anything.

This is an election cycle like no other.

[gratuitous]

3. Unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out

Trump is all about being treated fairly, and if in his personal estimation he isn't getting the treatment he thinks he deserves, he'll walk away from a negotiation. If he thinks he's negotiating a deal, he very well might quit in the middle of the campaign so that the Republican pooh-bahs have to come chasing after him and begging Mr. Trump please.

My own anecdotal observation is that even the message board trolls (not at DU, of course, where we don't got none of those) just don't have the fire in the belly to defend the overgrown bully boy.

[KPN]

4. Could happen. No matter how this play's out, in Trump's world

and mind, it will work to his personal benefit regardless of how things go from here whether that be financially or ego-legacy. It has occurred to me that if there is a huge D Party sweep up and down ticket, he might after-the-fact just brag about how his plan all along was to blow the GOP up -- and voila "I did it!".

[RazBerryBeret]

5. Trump is definitely a loose cannon....

I've wondered from the beginning if and when he would quit. Also wonder if he realizes it's a FOUR YEAR job, not one he can walk away from or sell off. I know he would love the power and prestige, but let's face it ... it's a HUGE cut in pay and there are things he will be "powerless" to do/change.

[SheilaT]

6. It's been being suggested for several weeks now.

Or that if he wins, he'll quite soon after.

Personally, I think he'll stick it out to the end, wherever that is.

If Hillary wins, no matter what her margin of victory, he'll spend weeks trying to convince everyone she stole the election, probably even attempting to take it to the Supreme Court.

If he wins, no matter what his margin of victory, he'll try to convince everyone that he won by a huge, huge margin. His gloating will be nonstop offensive. This will be a subset of how he'll have treated Hillary during the debates.

If he wins, he'll float on his own hot air, and try to be President the same way he was on the show Apprentice. He'll be under the impression he can fire members of Congress, Federal judges, maybe even Governors he doesn't like. He'll think the entire civil service apparatus exists only at his pleasure. Depending on the make-up of Congress, he might be impeached inside a year.

I find it somewhat hard to believe he'll win in November, but election day is still a long way away.

[PatSeg]

8. I don't think that huge ego of his

will allow him to pull out of the race, though I seriously doubt he is interested in the "job" of president, more the title and attention.

[SheilaT]

10. I agree.

The notion that he'll quit has been bruited about since last fall, and he's just reveling in the attention. No way he'll leave.

And I'm somewhat inclined to think that if he were elected, he'd assume he's so much better than everyone else in the world, that he'd happily serve. Until he's thrown out in some way. But there would be any number of awful things that would go down if he's in the White House. In no particular order: Almost no foreign head of state would have any respect for him. He'll be astonished that his bluster won't work elsewhere. He'll try to fire justices and judges he doesn't like, and won't fully understand he can't do that. On the other hand, he can fire cabinet members and will probably do so at a dizzying speed, each time some one of them tells him something he doesn't want to hear. He'll complain bitterly and publicly what a dump the White House is and may even simply move back to NYC. He won't bother much with cabinet meetings, and his first State of the Union address will simply be a lot of bombast about how wonderful he is.

With any luck at all, we will never get to experience this.

[PatSeg]

12. The visual of him in the White House

is alarming. Your description sounds more like a movie starring Will Ferrell than a real life possibility. The continuous turnover in his cabinet would probably break records, unless he just appoints family members. I can picture him spending a lot of time in his bathrobe on Twitter or calling the cable news shows.

Oh and yes, the White House would be much too drab and dull for Donald. Not nearly as much gold and glitter for his taste and he couldn't stamp his name on the outside of it!

The fact that we've come this close to such a presidency is terrifying.

[StraightRazor]

9. This is the first job interview that Trump has ever been on...

and he's going to lose that job to a woman - something I don't think he could stand.

I think that somehow, someway, he's not going to be on the ballot in November. No idea how aside from just quitting, but I don't think he could ever get over losing to Hillary. He never expected to be here and now finds himself faced with having to deal with the most humiliating moment of his life.

[PatSeg]

15. He would just accuse Hillary of cheating

He'd say the system is "rigged" and claim he'd really won. Poor Donald, always the victim!

[GreenEyedLefty]

11. I'm in the camp that thinks he wants to win, but not actually do the job.

If he wins he will be highly insulated and will only trust the advice of his inner circle (his children and maybe 1 or 2 others). He will enjoy the figurehead aspects of the presidency - the public appearances, presiding over various activities. Not unlike GWB. The real contest will be determining who will be the string puller - who will make the decisions. Ivanka and Jared Kushner, most likely. Mike Pence will be a nobody. He's out now, he will never be in.

Will a lot change? Not likely. He personally won't do anything big or bold, he's too chicken to risk going down like that. The string puller on the other hand? Much more dangerous. Again, like the GWB presidency.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

13. Yes. Saw it on CNN

He won't amount to crap as a president, but I don't think it will get that far.

I hope, anyway.

[PatSeg]

14. Yes I see the comparison to GWB

George with all his Daddy-issues wanted the prestige of being president, but really was not prepared to deal with any important issues. That whole governing by his gut was really unnerving.

I think if Trump was in the White House (god forbid), the only people he'd listen to are his family. Dictators and tyrants don't trust people outside of their very close knit circle and their paranoia causes them to make terrible decisions.

[malaise]

16. Yes n/t

[Wednesdays]

17. I think that if he makes it past the convention and Dem convention

He'll keep going until November. Beyond that, my crystal ball is very hazy.