Oh no, no siree. US politics have never been this funny since they cancelled Spin City.
I’m not sure Trump can run. Hasn’t the deadline to file already passed? If it has, then I think the only way he can get on the ballot is to get the nomination at the (brokered?) convention or to run as a write in candidate.
Not that either of those things will happen in this particular universe.
Stephen Colbert says he, too, will host a debate with all interested candidates invited. Maybe Colbert will actually do something useful with his PAC money by using it this way (if he can- not sure of the rules).
"In an epic, Trump-inspired tirade, Colbert said: “The guy’s a clown, only with more makeup. … I wouldn’t trust him with a burnt match. … This guy’s not a king-maker, he’s small potatoes. Fingerlings. He’s a child. He’s a toddler wearing man-pants. (He) looks like a gin-soaked raisin (that) fell into a nuclear reactor.”
And Colbert isn’t about to let Trump have all the debate fun. After all, Republican debates are in such short supply this primary season. So, Colbert officially announced his own “South Carolina Serious, Classy Republican Debate.” “I am doing this, you hear that, Donald?” Colbert said. “It’s going to be on Animal Planet in January, we’ll figure out the date later.
Colbert promises it will be the highest-rated debate in the history of television. Why? “Because whoever wins, I’m going to marry them,” Colbert said. “Call me, candidates, this offer expires when I say it does.” "
Quote from and Colbert rant here: http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/colbert-rails-against-trump-announces-his-own-gop-debate.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
He can’t run in the primaries, but he has plenty of time to get on the ballot as a third party candidate.
Trump will never run as an independent. He’ll never run period. He’ll just say he’s going to. The entire process is a masturbatory excercise designed to get him more attention and it’s working like gangbusters.
But the mere fact that he’s even hinted at a third party run, despite the .000000001% chance of it occurring, should automatically bar him from hosting a debate for Republicans and should definitely clue the candidates as to whether they should be participating or not.
Hasn’t Trump threatened to run for president in every election year since 1988?
Shit or get off the pot, Donny.
Whatever happens–and I suspect at this point the debate will be called off for lack of interest–Gingrich has already won:
A pretty obvious shot at Romney.
Does that include the swimsuit portion of the competition? 
Brain Bleach please!
I wonder if Trump’s going to invite Pat Paulsen to participate. And whether Justin Bieber will be performing.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a debate between those three.
I think Trump should comoderate the debate with Sarah Palin.
[ CARNAC THE MAGINFICENT ] Frown… Brown… Clown… [ /CtM]
I’d want to check if Colbert is offering him PAC money to participate. This would give him and Stewart a lot of material.
I avoid Trump like the plague, but isn’t Colbert doing him in these bits? He doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to do impressions in character, so he must love this.
ETA: I just realized this thread could go into Cafe Society just as well. Such is the state of Republican politics in 2011.
Heh.
So it looks like this spectacle may never take place, thank God. So far only Gingrich and Santorum have agreed to it. Several candidates have offered a “Thanks, but no thanks,” and even attention whore extraordinaire Michele Bachmann hasn’t accepted yet. If Gingrich and Santorum are the only ones who agree to show, it might just fall apart. Dudes, when Fox News contributor Karl Rove says, “Seriously guys, this is a fucking circus; stay away,” it’s a fucking circus and you should stay away.
I’m not sure what I would enjoy more: The Donald hosting a primary debate between Newt “Yes Mr. Trump, Whatever You Say” Gingrich and Rick “Stop Saying Santorum!” Santorum … or The Donald going on TeeVee solo and weaseling about how he didn’t really want to do it in the first place.
(sorry if it’s already been posted…haven’t slogged through the whole thread yet)
-XT
This thing is beneath the dignity of Michele Bachmann. Or at least, she said no.
Perry has also respectfully (or should that be respectively) declined the invitation.
Goes to show how much power Darth Rove still wields, doesn’t it? All he had to do was say it was a stupid idea and all the rats…well, most…skittered away, back into the sewers from whence they came.