# Clinton v Trump - The Stretch Run Thread

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [September 30, 2016, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277 "2016-09-30T11:21:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 82

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1623 "2016-10-11T17:04:03Z")

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> [@Tzigone](#):
>
> Tell me about it - I want poll numbers on how many plan to vote Trump, but not vote R down the line. That would have voted R otherwise.

Too early for that - the exodus has just begun, and Trump has just started attacking them. The nice thing is that the closer the election would be the more likely it is for the Republican candidate to dump Trump, and the more impact there will be of the Trump base defecting. So the poll would have to be nuanced.

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**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1624 "2016-10-11T17:05:04Z")

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> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> [Google Alerts - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Alerts)

Exactly. And with something approaching 100% certainty, someone on his campaign team has google alerts set up that would pick this up. And everything from there isn’t a coincidence as much as it would absolutely, no doubt about it happen. I mean, yes, a normal campaign would get that alert and make some effort to make sure it was true. This campaign wouldn’t care one way or the other.

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**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1625 "2016-10-11T17:06:14Z")

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> [@Tzigone](#):
>
> Tell me about it - I want poll numbers on how many plan to vote Trump, but not vote R down the line. That would have voted R otherwise.

Doesn’t need that many, and the fun part is that the Republicans built it that way! Gerrymandering the districts so that (R) would have a small but crucial lead in many districts, so that they would win the close ones, which they figured to give them the edge since so many were consistently close. And that works fine, unless everything changes. Oopsy-daisy!

So, OK, most Trumpivik voters will vote (R) all the way down, but now, not as many as before. And the more Trump dumps on the (R), the bigger that pile gets! Add on top of that the honest Conservatives who were reliable (R) votes but just can’t stomach it this time. Just spitballin’ here, got the math skills of a hamster. But say, maybe, ten percent?

What’s that spell? Starts with “D”, rhymes with “BOOM!”.

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**Author:** ![Mr\_Quatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bc8723/32.png) [@Mr\_Quatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Quatro)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1626 "2016-10-11T17:09:59Z")

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> [@FlikTheBlue](#):
>
> I am following that. What I have doubts about is if this will cause a significant number of his supporters to actually vote just for Trump, or if they will remain loyal Republicans and vote straight ticket despite Trump’s rantings.

Sorry I have to ask … what does that mean vote straight ticket?  
Does it mean you can just vote all GOP or Democrat or something like that?

What about all of the other issues on the ballot?

Are all of the states the same?

I agree that this has been the crazest national election I have ever witnessed. It has come to my attention that no one has ever been able to come from behind with an 11 point polling difference, but I think something big is fixing to happen.

A big surprise that will sway the national election for POTUS … with Hillary in the lead and everyone thinking landslide it could only mean disaster for her.

Disclaimer: I have been known to be wrong in the past

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**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1627 "2016-10-11T17:24:50Z")

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> [@Mr\_Quatro](#):
>
> Sorry I have to ask … what does that mean vote straight ticket?
> 
> Does it mean you can just vote all GOP or Democrat or something like that?
> 
> What about all of the other issues on the ballot?
> 
> Are all of the states the same?

To vote a “straight ticket” is to vote for the same party in all races. To vote a “split ticket” is to vote for some candidates from one party and other candidates from other parties.

In some states, you have the option to vote a straight ticket just by pulling a single lever for the party. Issues and ballot questions would be separate.

No, not all states are the same.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1628 "2016-10-11T17:32:18Z")

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DJonald Unshackled (sorry, I couldn’t resist) [has a new ad out](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-ad-clinton-stamina), showing Hillary coughing and then collapsing as she was leaving the 9/11 memorial ceremony last month. Random thoughts:

1. Exactly the ‘gentlemanly’ approach one would expect from The Donald.

2. It will only resonate with his true believer followers. Everyone else has seen her hold up quite well during two debates with Donald.

3. I couldn’t help but notice the banner at the end of the ad, reading:

DONALD TRUMP WILL PROTECT YOU. HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN.

There are actually people of voting age who don’t roll their eyes all the way back in their head when they read something like this?

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**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1629 "2016-10-11T17:35:37Z")

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Yes, voting straight ticket means voting for the same party in all the races on the ballot.

No, all the states aren’t the same. Many don’t have ballot initiatives/propositions (the “other issues” you wondered about). Some have Senate elections this year, some don’t. The states have different rules on which administration posts are appointed and which are elected. The states also set their own voting method, so some may be electronic and others paper.

Saying Hillary “came from behind” is not a good description. For a very brief period, in between the conventions, some polls gave Trump a slight edge but other than that Hillary has held the lead.

On preview: I see Ascenray answered you mostly but I’m gonna post this anyways.

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**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1630 "2016-10-11T17:37:05Z")

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> [@Morgenstern](#):
>
> Remember, Trump already has an appointment in late November in San Diego where he’ll face that “Mexican” judge and defend his Trump University scam. I wonder what will be in the mind of the judge as he calls that case?

I’m curious – is it known yet whether there will be a jury or will it be a bench trial? I’m assuming that it could be either.

On the one hand, it beggars the imagination that after Trump’s comments his legal team would want a bench trial. OTOH I can’t imagine the effort it would take to seat an unbiased jury.

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1631 "2016-10-11T17:43:03Z")

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> [@Acsenray](#):
>
> To vote a “straight ticket” is to vote for the same party in all races. To vote a “split ticket” is to vote for some candidates from one party and other candidates from other parties.
> 
> In some states, you have the option to vote a straight ticket just by pulling a single lever for the party. Issues and ballot questions would be separate.
> 
> No, not all states are the same.

More info on which states have a single lever for voting a straight ticket at the [National Conference of State Legislatures](http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/straight-ticket-voting.aspx) website.

North Carolina and Wisconsin got rid of straight-ticket voting in this decade, and Michigan tried to but was blocked by the courts. The motivation for getting rid of it seems to have been aimed at poorer Dem voters who were less likely to vote down-ticket if they had to vote on every race individually.

Might backfire on them this time. 🙂

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**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1632 "2016-10-11T17:57:19Z")

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OK, so the shackles are off! No more Mr. Nice Guy! We’ll get the real Trump now, without all the restraint and diplomacy, the careful attention to nuance.

Hooo, doggies!

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**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1633 "2016-10-11T18:01:08Z")

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Woo-Hoo! Christianity Today kicks The Donald [square in the nutz.](http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/speak-truth-to-trump.html?visit_source=twitter&start=1) “Trump is an idolater.” Well no shit, Sherlock.

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**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1634 "2016-10-11T18:03:59Z")

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> [@Little\_Pig](#):
>
> Woo-Hoo! Christianity Today kicks The Donald [square in the nutz.](http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/speak-truth-to-trump.html?visit_source=twitter&start=1)

Indeed.

> [@](#):
>
> He has given no evidence of humility or dependence on others, let alone on God his Maker and Judge. He wantonly celebrates strongmen and takes every opportunity to humiliate and demean the vulnerable. He shows no curiosity or capacity to learn. He is, in short, the very embodiment of what the Bible calls a fool.

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**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1635 "2016-10-11T18:06:49Z")

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> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> (snips)DONALD TRUMP WILL PROTECT YOU. HE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN.
> 
> There are actually people of voting age who don’t roll their eyes all the way back in their head when they read something like this?

Yes. They want to be protected from Hillary\*, whom they suspect of unknown dark deals with foreign powers and influences. She is a subtle person (she does do nuance) and she doesn’t jump up and down or spend every campaigning minute ranting against the dangers that face us. Therefore she must either not care about those dangers (as she concocts her schemes to enrich herself and her family, and groom her daughter to follow her into the white house) or else she is actually in league with them. Or both.

I think we all know people who have these opinions (I can’t say “who think like this” because thinking doesn’t enter into it much). Many of us are alarmed at how many there are, but I am hoping that the actual number is fairly stable over time, and it’s only that Trump has brought them out of the woodwork.

\*Picture Angela Lansbury’s character from the original “Manchurian Candidate” and her [scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RAUm6l_t6k) late in the movie where she describes her schemes to her brainwashed and mostly helpless son. I think that’s how these folks see Hillary, even if they’ve never seen the movie.

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**Author:** ![Dob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Dob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dob)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1636 "2016-10-11T18:07:33Z")

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saw a new one today about HRC always traveling with a stretcher. cool. the crazy train I thought was full and out of gas was really just at a filling station and is now back on the tracks…

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**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1637 "2016-10-11T18:24:11Z")

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> [@Little\_Pig](#):
>
> Woo-Hoo! Christianity Today kicks The Donald [square in the nutz.](http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/speak-truth-to-trump.html?visit_source=twitter&start=1) “Trump is an idolater.” Well no shit, Sherlock.

“In other news, the Pope is Catholic.”

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1638 "2016-10-11T18:42:52Z")

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> [@Little\_Pig](#):
>
> Woo-Hoo! Christianity Today kicks The Donald [square in the nutz.](http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/speak-truth-to-trump.html?visit_source=twitter&start=1) “Trump is an idolater.” Well no shit, Sherlock.

But before going there, they say:

> [@](#):
>
> But because several of the Democratic candidate’s policy positions are so manifestly incompatible with Christian reverence for the lives of the most vulnerable…

You mean like her proposals to help the poor escape poverty? Or investing money in finding a way to prevent Alzheimer’s, a disease which makes elderly people about as vulnerable as it is possible to be?

What worthless excuses for Christians they are. You can make arguments (weak ones, IMHO, but leave that for now) that her ideas might be ineffective or even counterproductive, but one can hardly argue that at the heart of all her proposals is the goal of _improving the lives of real people._ But they can’t find one good word to say about her.

And when they finally get around to Trump:

> [@](#):
>
> This past week, the latest (though surely not last) revelations from Trump’s past have caused many evangelical leaders to reconsider. This is heartening, but it comes awfully late. What Trump is, everyone has known and has been able to see for decades, let alone the last few months. The revelations of the past week of his vile and crude boasting about sexual conquest—indeed, sexual assault—might have been shocking, but they should have surprised no one.

Yeah, and “this is heartening, but it comes awfully late” would apply to their speaking out as well. Because like they say, it’s been clear for many months just what Trump is. And only when he gets graphic about pussy - that’s when they finally feel the need to speak out.

Fuck 'em.

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**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1639 "2016-10-11T18:48:12Z")

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> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Yeah, and “this is heartening, but it comes awfully late” would apply to their speaking out as well. Because like they say, it’s been clear for many months just what Trump is. And only when he gets graphic about pussy - that’s when they finally feel the need to speak out.
> 
> Fuck 'em.

I disagree

If I’m Team Hillary, this time (post convention) is EXACTLY when I want to see these things. (And just because the statement came out now, doesn’t mean it’s only connected to the hot mic tape)

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**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1640 "2016-10-11T18:52:45Z")

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Isn’t “candidate’s policy positions are so manifestly incompatible with Christian reverence for the lives of the most vulnerable” code for “candidate is pro-choice”?

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1641 "2016-10-11T18:59:53Z")

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I’m mystified when people like Paul Ryan announce no more defense of or excusing Trump but then don’t rescind their endorsement. This _is_ a rescindment as far as I’m concerned, so why not just go all the way?

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**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\
**Post date:** [October 11, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-v-trump-the-stretch-run-thread/767277/1642 "2016-10-11T19:00:24Z")

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> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> Isn’t “candidate’s policy positions are so manifestly incompatible with Christian reverence for the lives of the most vulnerable” code for “candidate is pro-choice”?

That’s certainly the way I decode it.

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