Also receiving votes: “disappointed but never thought he’d run,” 1%; “who cares,” 1%.
Relieved
“With the side show over, we can get down to discussing Republican budget attacks on seniors, children, and the infirm.”
Disappointed
“Was hankering for a Post headline: ‘Iowa to Trump: You’re Fired!’ ”
“Trump’s decision reduces the wacky-candidate factor by one, but the wacky-candidate decibel level by a hundred.”
“We have lost the reality-show version of presidential elections.”
Never thought he would run
“Always thought it was for May sweepstakes—it worked.”
“He wanted PR, not the responsibility of governing. To paraphrase what Marion Barry once said of a political rival, ‘The Donald don’t want to run nothin’ but his mouth.’ ”
“The guy’s a fraud, and any political reporter who actually ever believed he was going to run should request a reassignment to entertainment news.”
“Sooner or later, reality had to ‘trump’ reality TV.”
“Trump’s ‘run’ for the White House was a P.T. Barnum ‘There’s-a-sucker-born-every-minute’ moment for the national press corps.”
“Trump got a dose of hardball at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner and showed he is uniquely unqualified to be a public official.”
“Says something about the state of the Republican field and of media coverage that he was taken so seriously to begin with.”
“He would never put up with the scrutiny.”
How do you feel about Donald Trump’s decision not to seek the presidency in 2012?
Republicans (103 votes)
Surprised: 3%
Relieved: 14%
Disappointed: 3%
Never thought he would run to begin with: 81%
Surprised
“Though it’s always about him, it looked like all the signs were there.”
Relieved
“He detracted from the serious debate.”
“One less clown should make it seem less of a circus.”
Disappointed
“Now we only have Gingrich for entertainment value.”
Never thought he would run
“Every journalist and editor who produced stories treating him as a serious candidate for president should be ashamed.”
“This was always a publicity stunt by a master at self-promotion. That it dominated the media for a fortnight said more about the press’s celebrity obsession than anything else. It was also perhaps a commentary on how weak the Republican field seems to be right now.”
“This has never been anything but a ratings game for Trump.”
“He does this every four years. This year he caught lightning in a bottle because of the birther issue.”
“The only things missing from Trump’s whole act were the big red nose and the floppy shoes.”
“It was real, as he reached out to top operatives. But the financial disclosure would have exposed his shaky finances.”
“The guy is a businessman, and he can do math: Bottom line, he was completely unelectable.”
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Democratic Political Insiders Jill Alper, John Anzalone, Brad Bannon, Dave Beattie, Andy Bechhoefer, Cornell Belcher, Matt Bennett, Mitchell W. Berger, Mike Berman, Stephanie Bosh, Paul Brathwaite, Donna Brazile, Mark Brewer, Ed Bruley, George Bruno, Deb Callahan, Bonnie Campbell, Bill Carrick, Guy Cecil, Martin J. Chavez, Tony Coelho, Larry Cohen, Jerry Crawford, Brendan Daly, Jeff Danielson, Peter Daou, Howard Dean, Scott DeFife, Jim Demers, Tad Devine, David Di Martino, Debbie Dingell, Monica Dixon, Patrick Dorton, Pat Dujakovich, Anita Dunn, Jeff Eller, Steve Elmendorf, Carter Eskew, Vic Fazio, Peter Fenn, Scott Ferson, Jim Fleischmann, Tina Flournoy, Don Foley, Jeffrey Forbes, Vincent Frillici, Gina Glantz, Niles Godes, John Michael Gonzalez, Joe Grandmaison, Anna Greenberg, Stan Greenberg, Pat Griffin, Michael Gronstal, Lisa Grove, Marcia Hale, Jill Hanauer, Dick Harpootlian, Paul Harstad, Laura Hartigan, Doug Hattaway, Mike Henry, Karen Hicks, Leo Hindery Jr., Harold Ickes, Marcus Jadotte, John Jameson, Steve Jarding, Jonathon Jones, Jim Jordan, Gale Kaufman, Lisa Kountoupes, Celinda Lake, David Lang, Penny Lee, Chris Lehane, Jeff Link, Bob Maloney, Steve Marchand, Jim Margolis, Paul Maslin, Keith Mason, Susan McCue, Gerald McEntee, Tom McMahon, Phil McNamara, David Medina, Michael Meehan, Mark Mellman, John Merrigan, Steve Murphy, Janet Napolitano, David Nassar, Marcia Nichols, John Norris, Tom Ochs, Tom O’Donnell, Jeffrey Peck, Debora Pignatelli, Tony Podesta, Jack Quinn, Larry Rasky, Mame Reiley, Ed Rendell, Steve Ricchetti, Will Robinson, Steve Rosenthal, David Rudd, John Ryan, Michael Sargeant, Stephanie Schriock, Wendy Sherman, Terry Shumaker, Sean Sinclair, Phil Singer, Erik Smith, Doug Sosnik, Greg Speed, Darry Sragow, Ken Strasma, Katrina Swett, Doug Thornell, Jeffrey Trammell, Ed Turlington, Rick Wiener, James Williams, JoDee Winterhof, Brian Wolff, Jon Youngdahl, and Jim Zogby.
GOP Political Insiders Dan Allen, Stan Anderson, Gary Andres, Saulius (Saul) Anuzis, Rich Ashooh, Whit Ayres, Brett Bader, Mitch Bainwol, Gary Bauer, David Beckwith, Paul Bennecke, Clark Benson, Wayne Berman, Brian Bieron, Charlie Black, Kirk Blalock, Carmine Boal, Jeff Boeyink, Ron Bonjean, Jeff Buley, Luke Byars, Nick Calio, Al Cardenas, Danny Carroll, Alex Castellanos, Ron Christie, Jim Cicconi, Rob Collins, Cesar Conda, Jake Corman, Scott Cottington, Greg Crist, Diane Crookham-Johnson, Fergus Cullen, Tom Davis, Mike Dennehy, Ken Duberstein, Steve Duprey, Debi Durham, Sara Fagen, Frank Fahrenkopf, John Feehery, Don Fierce, Mindy Finn, Mindy Fletcher, Carl Forti, Alex Gage, Bruce A. Gates, Sam Geduldig, Adam Geller, Benjamin Ginsberg, David Girard-diCarlo, Bill Greener, Jonathan Grella, Lanny Griffith, Janet Mullins Grissom, Doug Gross, Todd Harris, Steve Hart, Christopher Healy, Ralph Hellmann, Chris Henick, Terry Holt, David Iannelli, Ed Ingle, Jim Innocenzi, Clark Judge, David Keating, David Kensinger, Bob Kjellander, Ed Kutler, Chris LaCivita, Jim Lake, George S. LeMieux, Steve Lombardo, Kevin Madden, Joel Maiola, Gary Maloney, David Marin, Mary Matalin, Dan Mattoon, Brian McCormack, Mark McKinnon, Kyle McSlarrow, Ken Mehlman, Jim Merrill, Lisa Camooso Miller, Tim Morrison, Mike Murphy, Phil Musser, Ron Nehring, Terry Nelson, Neil Newhouse, David Norcross, Ziad Ojakli, Jack Oliver, Todd Olsen, Connie Partoyan, Dana Perino, Billy Piper, Van B. Poole, Tom Rath, Scott Reed, David Rehr, Tom Reynolds, Steve Roberts, Jason Roe, David Roederer, Dan Schnur, Russ Schriefer, Rich Schwarm, Brent Seaborn, Rick Shelby, Andrew Shore, Kevin Shuvalov, Don Sipple, Ken Spain, Fred Steeper, Bob Stevenson, Terry Sullivan, Eric Tanenblatt, Richard Temple, Heath Thompson, Jay Timmons, Warren Tompkins, Ted Van Der Meid, Dirk van Dongen, Jan van Lohuizen, Stewart Verdery, Dick Wadhams, John Weaver, Lezlee Westine, Tom Wilson, Dave Winston, Ginny Wolfe, Fred Wszolek, and Matthew Zablud.
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This article appears in the May 21, 2011, edition of National Journal.
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