Donald Trump is a fascinating character. He has been in the news since his early days as real estate investor. He seems to have absolutely no regard for his public image yet this very disregard reads as sincerity to the average observer, and he seems to be paradoxically aware of this equation, calculating his way to higher poll ratings than his opponents. Most of the time …

During an election in which the outcome is widely accepted as being forgone, it is common for people who have no chance of winning to run anyway because being a former candidate for the presidency of the United States of America looks pretty sweet on your resume no matter what job you are applying for.

This is why people like Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz get a green light from party leaders to make a bid. If you know your party can’t win or most likely will not then you put up people who would not win anyway and save your best candidates for next time.

Now I am going to blow your mind.

I think Donald Trump is in it to lose. Furthermore, I think it’s because he wants a woman to win.

Crazy, right?

Well consider Mr. Trump’s contempt for women and his decidedly outspoken attitude toward Democrats in general. It seems clear that he would consider a female Democrat an underdog to say the least.

Therefore, if he were heavily invested for some reason in her success it would – in his mind – behoove him greatly to throw his considerable resources into activity designed to assist her efforts or even provide her with a winning position.

In most games you can win if, rather than playing to win right now, you simply play to avoid losing. If you don’t know what I mean, think about the monopoly player who buys one piece of every color on the board, one utility and one railroad.

He hasn’t won, but it’s unlikely he will lose and eventually his opponents will tire of the contest. Or the chess player who rather than move in for the checkmate methodically eliminates every single opposing piece until only the king remains.

What if Trump found William Jefferson Clinton’s presidency very profitable or had even more interesting reasons to want Mrs. Clinton to get into power? What if she owes him more favors than anyone else in the race?

Once you consider a compelling motivation, it seems hard to deny that his present course of action is rather well suited to throwing out the entire Republican bid and all of its candidates by hopelessly dividing their voter foundation and leaving them vulnerable to a sweeping defeat in the general election later this year. This particular line of thought has been echoed many times throughout the process so far by reporters and Republican Party officials. The Democrats in classic political style have failed to acknowledge this situation at all.

His approach is moronic, operating with reckless abandon and doing things like accepting -even- promoting endorsements from people like Sarah Palin. Behaving obnoxiously, some would say outlandishly in every public appearance and making grandiose statements, which despite their obvious absurdity, still appeal to radical constituents.

It is not unprecedented for a rich and eccentric individual to participate in the national election with no higher purpose than to shake things up.

Ross Perot did it in ’92. Intriguingly, another Clinton was running for president that year as well.

Given all that has recently occurred, I think it is not a thought that we should fail to consider.

What his true purpose is we may never know, but I assure you it is not what he says it is, no matter what he says.

Finally, I would like to point out one thing.

I don’t hate Trump.

If not for Hillary Clinton, I would be voting for him. He fits a recognizable profile that many of our very best presidents are members of: an insanely rich and privileged white man. JFK, FDR, Teddy Roosevelt, George Bush Sr., the list could go on for some time, but suffice it to say that I am not saying these things because I don’t like him.