In the middle of all the controversies and criticisms he brought himself, Donald Trump remains a strong candidate for the 2016 Presidential nomination.
After publicly lambasting the record of War Hero and Arizona Senator John McCain last week, the New York businessman and real estate mogul has seen a slight decrease in his ratings, but remains a tough contender for the GOP candidacy - gaining the favor of most Republicans apparently because of his views on illegal immigration, which he continuously criticizes.
According to YouGov, Donald trump has received the highest positive rate from the Republicans among other candidates last week. However, following his comments regarding Sen. McCain, his favorable ratings plunged to 53 percent, with a 42 percent unfavorable rating, a drop of 11 points in his positive rate and a 15-point increase in his negative rating.
Now leading the GOP candidacy is Florida Senator Marco Rubio who garnered a 63 percent favorable rating from the republicans, followed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who received a 57 percent positive rating.
Although Trump has said that he prefers to be the GOP candidate, a report by CNN cited that there is a possibility of Trump running a third-party candidacy, which might jeopardize GOP and Jeb Bush's candidacy.
Starting an independent candidature is time-consuming and expensive especially in terms of logistics as well as a substantial signature-campaign requirement to gain access to the ballots in 50 states. However, while being an independent candidate will be taxing and tedious, Donald's Trump limitless resources, with money to throw around, are enough to give headache to his detractors and place the Republicans in a difficult position.
With Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic party and Jeb Bush for GOP, a third party candidacy from Donald trump will not only spread and weaken the votes of the Republicans but it will also likely make the general election a heated three-way race.
Donald Trump is backed with strong republican supporters and remains in a solid spot for GOP candidacy. But this might not yet be enough for him to be nominated for the position. Nonetheless, he is in complete control of his candidacy and has options to take if necessary.
