Donald Trump Feeds His Ego

The Republican presidential nomination has been chugging along nicely, with four states having voted and four more scheduled for the next couple of weeks. But this has been happening without the sizable ego of Donald Trump, and for Trump that is inexcusable. He's convinced that he the kingmaker in the Republican Party. So before a decision in the race became obvious, Trump quickly jumped on a jet, flew to Las vegas, and announced to the world his own endorsement for the nomination.

There were those who thought that Trump would endorse Gingrich. After all, Gingrich was willing to attend Trump's ill-fated debate while Romney was not. But Trump's ego wouldn't let him endorse someone who was not likely to win, so in spite of all the nasty things Trump had said about Romney in the past, he gave his endorsement to the race leader (and his fellow Wall Street mogul) Willard Mitt Romney.

Now if Romney wins (as it looks like he is probably going to do), Trump can claim it was his support that put him over the top. He almost did that anyway, telling a group of reporters after the endorsement, "I bring a lot of people with me." I think he misunderstands a lot of the public attention he gets, with it being much more like gawkers at an accident than adoring fans. I doubt that the Trump endorsement will make any difference in the race at all.

That view is backed up by a recent survey by the Pew Research Center. The survey found that endorsement make little, if any, difference in a political campaign -- and that some endorsements can actually hurt much more than they help. The survey asked how the endorsement of several individual might affect the way a person votes, and Trump didn't come out so good. Among Republicans, 13% said a Trump endorsement would make them more likely to vote for a candidate while 20% said it would make them less likely. In a general election the numbers are even worse -- with 8% saying more likely and 28% saying less likely.

Frankly, I think Trump's big endorsement fed his own ego much more than it will help Romney. But that was the real reason for it anyway, so I guess he can go home happy now.