It’s good to know that not only did Donald Trump pledge to support the eventual Republican presidential nominee, he declared he’s “totally” pledged!
This is indeed good news for both Trump and the GOP. One of the few moments that Trump was booed in that first debate was when he didn’t raise his hand, declaring he would support the GOP nominee; clearly some Republicans feel any aspiring GOP nominee should rule out a third party bid.
(As John Durant observed on Twitter, this pledge now means every other Republican presidential candidate has also pledged to support Trump if he’s the nominee, too.)
Obviously, it is good news for the GOP in that it makes it less likely that Trump will run third party or independent. Those of us with long memories will observe that politicians have broken loudly-proclaimed pledges like this before. Both Arlen Specter and Charlie Crist pledged to run as Republicans in 2010… and Specter switched parties within a few weeks, and Crist announced an independent bid a month later.