Donald Trump is the reincarnation of P.T. Barnum and knows exactly how to exploit the "sucker that is born every minute" in "Make America Great Again's" clothing.
Say what you will about Donald Trump being ridiculous or foolish, but stupid he is not and wily and canny he is. He is also someone who can't stand to lose and has a track record of not losing even during down times or business catastrophes that hurt everyone else. He has even bragged about his business acumen in coming out well in the face of the Atlantic City debacle.
What's becoming clearer by the day is that he is someone who doesn't care whether he wins or loses the Presidential election. How could he think such a thing?
For one thing, he is not a lifetime politician having to worry about his political future. Unlike long-term politicians, he doesn't have to worry about facing the fate of "old soldiers" -- and un-elected or un-reelected lifer politicians -- that Douglas MacArthur explained, "Old soldiers (and politicians who lose), never die. They just fade away."
He doesn't have to worry about being a Bernie Sanders who served successfully for decades as an Independent, then stirred the hearts of like-minded anti-establishment voters only to now fade back into... exactly what has he faded back into?
Is Bernie a Democrat now that his bid is gone or is he really an Independent? It's quite possible that his neither "fish nor fowl" position will cause him to fade more into oblivion than had he remained true to his core identity as an Independent. That's because, hard line Democrats are not likely to embrace him -- tolerate him politely, yes -- but embrace him and give him a bully platform within their bully pulpit? I don't think so.
My prediction is that poor, good intentioned Bernie will be cast aside by the Democrats as soon as they see they can no longer use him or need him to grab some of his followers.
And regarding Bernie's anti-establishment, Independent base? They are not likely to want him back now that he has gone "pro-Hillary." But don't worry. There are worse places to retire and fade into the sunset than Vermont.
Trump on the other hand can stay true to his outlandish message and claim that he will never bend, capitulate nor cow-tow to the "rigged" political system.
That represents a "no lose" proposition.
If he loses the election, he can claim he was true to his message and supporters and never caved in like Bernie did. And in a matter of fact way he can simply say, "Well it looks like the voters have made their choice. Do I think the election was rigged? Quite possibly, but I would just tell my supporters, 'Rigged or not, Hillary is America's President, and it would probably not be a good idea to undermine her, since she's got enough to deal with both outside and inside our country. Do I think she'll succeed? No. Do I wish her luck? Yes. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my businesses which I put on hold to give my best effort to being YOUR President."
Might he add, "Don't come crying back to me if Hillary blows up the whole country!" I hope not, but if he'd like a bump to his notoriety a couple years from now because he misses the spotlight, you never know with Trump.
His followers will then claim, "At least Trump stayed true to everything he said rather than give into establishment pressures and cave like Sanders did." So he'll continue to win with his supporters who might show their appreciation by buying some of his properties and investing in his other schemes.
Even those who were against him from the GOP and from the Democrats will say, "Well thank God he lost, but the guy did stay true to his message all the way through. There's something to be said for that kind of stamina and tenacity." So he may actually win implicitly with them especially when they're relieved to be rid of him.
But then of course, there might be the unlikely possibility of his winning the general election. If that happens, and if it's agreed that the "people have spoken," the government can then scurry around to somehow make it happen after his coup succeeded.
Either way, there is a good chance that he'll land on his feet and laugh his way to the bank as he always has.