Reply #19: A distraction, yes.

[Old and In the Way]

But I'm not sure he'll be making the rest look any better. For one thing, his core platform seems to be the discredited birther issue. has he laid out any other serious policy position? He's in serious contention, just on this ridiculous point alone. So the rest will need to address it...either refute it and piss off the base or agree with it and discredit themselves in the GE. I think most would prefer not to have to do that....much better to let the base talk about it while not directly addressing it themselves.

Personally, I think Trump, a guy whose past positions on things like healthcare and social policies align more closely with the Democratic platform, is doing Obama a favor...even more so if he decides to go the Indie route. Meanwhile, he's leading the pack and sucking up all of the media oxygen from the other schmucks running as Republicans. And he's getting plenty of free publicity for his show and himself.