So Donald Trump is serious about running for President.
There are some implications for the financial and investing communities.
But first, to address the well-founded skepticism after previous teases at runs each election cycle since 2000: Trump is running in the Republican primary and has just filed the requisite documents with the Federal Election Commission. He has the funds to tackle the ballot access requirements in each state, and to hire the brains to strategize a successful run.
In those respects, Trump evokes a comparison to an equally iconoclastic predecessor who ran twice for President in 1992 and 1996: H. Ross Perot. Now, Trump has a big advantage over Perot in that while it is far easier to get to the general election as a self-financing independent, it is far easier to actually win if you are the nominee of one of the two major parties.
(Full disclosure): Perot’s campaign committee was my first legal client ever, and I was just one year into law school. I was one of his election law and petition advisers and press people in New York in 1992. I was there. I know.)
Can He Win?