When asked about the possibility of an independent bid for the White House, real estate mogul Donald Trump said, "If the economy continues to be bad and if the Republicans choose the wrong person, I would do it." Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) refused to rule out a third-party run for president if he did not get the Republican nomination he's currently pursuing. Former New Jersey Governor Christie Todd Whitman's Americans Elect is encouraging current GOP contender Jon Huntsman to run as a third party candidate since it's doubtful he would be the Republicans' choice (Mr. Huntsman has refused to rule out the possibility of a third party or independent bid).

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Since all three of these could-be alternative candidates appeal more to Republican voters (and Independents who lean to the right) than to Democrats, there's no doubt that a third party or independent bid by any of them would result in fewer votes for the Republican nominee and a better chance that President Barack Obama will be re-elected.

Since all three men have spoken strongly against the current administration and what its policies have done to the nation, why would any of them threaten (or refuse to rule out) creating a situation that would result in four more years of those policies? While any of them might be able to defeat President Obama in a general election, none has any realistic hope of beating both the Republican nominee and the incumbent.

Could ego alone - the need for continued presidential election attention - be enough motivation for these threats and refusals? Perhaps. More likely their reason is the same as that of most people who threaten to do harm if they don't get something they want - greed.

In this case that something is not the GOP nomination - none of these three men have a realistic chance at that. But they may believe that threatening to play the spoiler role in 2012 will intimidate the actual nominee into offering them something from the next administration...or perhaps some form of gratuity from the current one if they make good on those threats.