It All Comes Together: Anti-Gun Dick Sporting Goods CEO Floats Idea of Third-Party Presidential Run

(Photo by Scott Dalton/Invision for DICK'S Sporting Goods/AP Images)
FILE – This Thursday, March 1, 2018, file photo shows a Dick’s Sporting Goods sign at one of their stores. A 20-year-old man in southern Oregon has filed a lawsuit against Dick’s Sporting Goods and Walmart after he says they refused to sell him a rifle. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)
Advertisement

If you’ve been watching the saga of Dick’s Sporting Goods, you’d know that since the Parkland shooting, the company has been losing money hand over fist thanks to its CEO deciding to take an anti-gun stance, as well as engage in activist work to limit 2nd Amendment rights.

The move by Dick’s CEO, Ed Stack, cost the company somewhere in the ballpark of a quarter of a billion dollars according to Stack himself. Despite his actions losing his company millions, he expressed that he had no regrets for his actions.

(READ: Dick’s Sporting Goods CEO Says His Anti-Gun Crusade Has Cost The Company A Quarter Billion Dollars)

It was an odd thing for a CEO to say. Losing that much money isn’t exactly something to be proud of. Even if you are proud of the work you’ve done, it’s not exactly something investors and possibly board members enjoy hearing.

Now, however, it all seems to make sense as reports are now coming in that Stack is weighing a run for the Oval Office as a third-party candidate. As reported by Politico, focus groups are being asked interesting questions about the 2020 lineup, and whether or not he’d do well in the political ring:

Various messages were presented to a focus group in southern Wisconsin this week centering on the billionaire businessman, along with possible three-way match-ups against Donald Trump and Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren.

The focus group, according to a source who took part in the testing, ran through varying themes involving Stack and heavily focused on his example of “showing leadership” by halting the sale of assault-style rifles at all of Dick’s Sporting Goods stores in the wake of the high school massacre in Parkland, Fla.

Advertisement

A source familiar with Stack denied that the CEO has any intentions to run for office, but as Politico notes, that seems unlikely, given the questions being asked of focus groups. Politico also predicted that Stack’s inclusion into the race as a third-party candidate would have a wide-ranging effect on it.

I disagree.

For one, it’s clear that Stack will enter the race with a platform focused on gun control. A Democrat did that as well and was the first one shown to the door. Given, Rep. Eric Swalwell wasn’t exactly the most choosable candidate, but his platform was already one that Democrats constantly lose on.

Secondly, despite Stack being a self-professed “Republican,” it’s unlikely that he’s going to attract any votes from the right. His anti-gun stance has clearly alienated many right-leaning voters, and he’s definitely not going to attract any by maintaining that. If anything, he may attract a few Democrats who want something other than an extremist like Warren or Sanders, thus splitting the Democrat party and handing Trump an even bigger win than he’s likely going to get already.

What’s more, I’m not sure many in the business community would have faith in him either. He’s already proved he’s willing to sacrifice massive sums of money in order to virtue signal. Business leaders would have to ask themselves how Stack would cripple them in order to enact his vision of America. How many workers are going to feel safe in their jobs?

Advertisement

In short, the funding for his campaign wouldn’t exactly be impressive. Not from big or small donors.

Stack is testing the waters to see if it’s a good idea for him to wade into the 2020 pool, but let me save him some time…

The answer is “no, it’s not.”

 

Recommended

Join the conversation as a VIP Member

Trending on RedState Videos