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For a while in 2000, Donald Trump seriously considered running for President as the Reform Party candidate. He seemed a credible alternative to Pat Buchanan and John Hagelin, and garnered media attention for his bid when he ran in the Reform party's California Primary. He finally dropped out in late 1999, citing the party's ideological infighting and it's ridiculously big tent nature.

However what if he had remained in the race, he seemd to realise from the beginning that his personality would gain more attention than the party itself, what if he chose to ignore the ideological split between Buchanan and Hagelin until he defeated both in the Primaries, becoming the official candidate without the walk out and legal battle that accompanied the party's convention in 2000?

Along with the federal matching funds the party would receive, he had also indicated that he might throw large amounts of his personal wealth into the campaign, allowing him to stand on an equal footing with the Democrats and Republicans. If he went ahead and did this, how might he have done in the general election running on an economically conservative, socially moderate platform? Would he have got into the debates? Is there any chance he could pick up some electoral votes, or even win?
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