From the diaries . . .

Just in case all the early primary fun hasn’t put you in a fetal position next to the liquor cabinet, maybe this will finish the job:

After his aborted press tour/election tease, Donald Trump nearly immediately went back to hinting at an independent run for President. Speculation has been driven through the last few months by surrogates, media interviews and a rising frustration with the field of Republican candidates. We even had a few moments earlier this month when it looked like some of the GOP presidential candidates would actually take part in a debate that Trump moderated. Thankfully, that moment of insanity passed.

This afternoon I was forwarded an email that originated with Everett Wilkinson (@TEApartyCzar) of South Florida. Everett describes himself as, “a rising local and national star in the tea party movement and the founder & chairman of South Florida Tea Party as well as the Florida Tea Party and Tea Party Chamber of Commerce.” The email is copied below in its entirety:

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Everett Wilkinson
Date: Thu, Dec 29, 2011 at 11:18 AM
Subject: Confidential TX Issue

After receipt of the email I called Mr. Wilkinson and had a brief conversation. He confirmed that he is working at the request of Mr. Trump, whom he describes as a personal friend, to find and register state campaign chairmen across the country. He declined to give any indication of progress other than to say that he was able to find a “well known, solid TEA Party leader” so serve as the Texas campaign chairman. It was unclear from our conversation why he was using what appeared to be a TEA party affiliated email or whether the effort had been sanctioned by other members of the group.

Everett said that Trump hasn’t made a final decision on the campaign but that due to election law in some states they need to secure campaign chairmen and begin collecting signatures in case Trump pulls the trigger. The Donald has apparently put Everett in charge of this effort.

All in all it’s just another big face-palm moment to add to the long list. If you really want Obama to get a 2nd term then by all means, throw your support behind a Trump run. There’s a lot to be frustrated about with the state of the Republican party but cutting off your nose to spite your face isn’t exactly an optimal strategy.