# Donald Just Lost The Election **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 16, 2016, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103 "2016-09-16T18:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/21 "2016-09-16T19:09:48Z")
From our good friends over at _Talking Points Memo_: > **[So Will Trump Follow Through On His $5 Million Birther Charity Promise?](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-birther-charity-promise)** > > So now that Donald Trump — after years of race-baiting and rumor-mongering — believes that President Obama was born in the United States, will he follow through on his promise to donate $5 million… **So Will Trump Follow Through On His $5 Million Birther Charity Promise?** Boiled down: Trump promised to give $5 million to charity if anyone gave him solid proof of Obama’s birth. So… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/22 "2016-09-16T19:15:47Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > My hope is that high-profile African Americans - not just one or two but many - will come out in droves and troll this shit out of Donald Trump over this one. I mean, get people like Samuel L Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Ice Cube, Oprah, Lebron James…get all of them to come out and just say Trump is a sick, bigoted liar who doesn’t deserve a single African American vote. It’s risky, I know, because it can always backfire and celebrities don’t like to mix in politics too often for reasons that are understandable. But these are people who have had a history of political involvement, even if on the periphery, and I hope they do it now. Add Beyoncé to that list and that would be the end of sleepless nights for all progressives. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/23 "2016-09-16T19:17:12Z")
Now if they can just get Michelle Obama… ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/24 "2016-09-16T19:33:02Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Now if they can just get Michelle Obama… Yes, I hope she will continue to speak out (building on her Democratic Convention speech). Incidentally, ‘favorable/unfavorable’ polls on Michelle Obama may give the purest, cleanest information on the percentage of the US population that is either white supremacist or at least substantially bigoted against non-whites, because she has spent eight years saying basically nothing about policy issues (i.e., being a ‘good First Lady’). Though Americans do know something about her as an individual, we don’t know a _lot_, and so reactions to her are likely to reflect reactions to non-white women in general. At the end of July, Gallup had her at 58% Favorable among American adults, 8% ‘no opinion,’ and 33% Unfavorable. That “33%” figure is probably a fairly solid indicator of those holding views that could be characterized as racism against non-whites. > **[Michelle Obama Best Liked of Scheduled Convention Speakers](https://news.gallup.com/poll/193994/michelle-obama-best-liked-scheduled-convention-speakers.aspx)** > > First lady Michelle Obama enjoys the highest favorable rating (58%) among top Democratic figures speaking at this week's convention. About half of Americans view Bernie Sanders, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden favorably. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/25 "2016-09-16T19:37:49Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > she has spent eight years saying basically nothing about policy issues (i.e., being a ‘good First Lady’) Not quite; her anti-obesity campaign drew ire from those who considered it nanny-stating. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/26 "2016-09-16T19:38:07Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Who do we have on duty monitoring the alt-batshit radio talk universe? How are they reacting? Decompositionally, if my vote counts for anything. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/27 "2016-09-16T19:39:17Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yes, I hope she will continue to speak out (building on her Democratic Convention speech). > > Incidentally, ‘favorable/unfavorable’ polls on Michelle Obama may give the purest, cleanest information on the percentage of the US population that is either white supremacist or at least substantially bigoted against non-whites, because she has spent eight years saying basically nothing about policy issues (i.e., being a ‘good First Lady’). Though Americans do know something about her as an individual, we don’t know a _lot_, and so reactions to her are likely to reflect reactions to non-white women in general. > > At the end of July, Gallup had her at 58% Favorable among American adults, 8% ‘no opinion,’ and 33% Unfavorable. > > That “33%” figure is probably a fairly solid indicator of those holding views that could be characterized as racism against non-whites. > > [http://www.gallup.com/poll/193994/michelle-obama-best-liked-scheduled-convention-speakers.aspx](http://www.gallup.com/poll/193994/michelle-obama-best-liked-scheduled-convention-speakers.aspx) Are you kidding? She told Americans to eat their vegetables. She is the Beast from 20,000 Calories. She lost the entire middle school vote, too. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/28 "2016-09-16T19:44:38Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > I doubt this hurts his core supporters, who will rationalize this the same way they’ve rationalized his shifty positions with illegal immigration. “Well that’s what he has to say to keep the liberal media off his back.” IMHO he has jumped from the frying pan into the fire, As **elucidator** pointed out: > **[So Will Trump Follow Through On His $5 Million Birther Charity Promise?](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/donald-trump-birther-charity-promise)** > > So now that Donald Trump — after years of race-baiting and rumor-mongering — believes that President Obama was born in the United States, will he follow through on his promise to donate $5 million… > [@](#): > > So Will Trump Follow Through On His $5 Million Birther Charity Promise? > > So now that Donald Trump – after years of race-baiting and rumor-mongering – believes that President Obama was born in the United States, will he follow through on his promise to donate $5 million to charity once he was given proof? > > That was the question posed by The Washington Post’s David Fahrenthold, who has been reporting doggedly on Trump’s charitable giving (or lack thereof). > > Along with his persistent questioning of Obama’s birth certificate, his claims that he was sending researchers to Hawaii to investigate Obama’s records and his continued refusal – until Friday – to recognize Obama’s American birth, Trump also promised in 2012 $5 million in charitable giving in exchange for various documents that would prove to Trump’s “satisfaction” that Obama was not born abroad. Nice way to remind voters about how Trump fulfills promises. Not by much and will stiff the ones who he makes deals. And that is what he plans for America. ---
**Author:** ![mtomm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@mtomm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtomm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/29 "2016-09-16T19:46:16Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > My hope is that high-profile African Americans - not just one or two but many - will come out in droves and troll this shit out of Donald Trump over this one. I mean, get people like Samuel L Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Ice Cube, Oprah, Lebron James…get all of them to come out and just say Trump is a sick, bigoted liar who doesn’t deserve a single African American vote. It’s risky, I know, because it can always backfire and celebrities don’t like to mix in politics too often for reasons that are understandable. But these are people who have had a history of political involvement, even if on the periphery, and I hope they do it now. How about the spineless Condi Rice and Colin Powell? I know we’ve seen it in his emails but the man just needs to grab his balls and own it. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/30 "2016-09-16T19:47:50Z")
> [@squidfood](#): > > Not quite; her anti-obesity campaign drew ire from those who considered it nanny-stating. > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Are you kidding? She told Americans to eat their vegetables. She is the Beast from 20,000 Calories. She lost the entire middle school vote, too. Sure, the 33% were always going to find a way to say ‘see, she’s a TERRIBLE person!’…but didn’t they look silly doing it? 🆒 ---
**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:** [September 16, 2016, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/31 "2016-09-16T19:59:09Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > My hope is that high-profile African Americans - not just one or two but many - will come out in droves and troll this shit out of Donald Trump over this one. I mean, get people like Samuel L Jackson, Morgan Freeman, Ice Cube, Oprah, Lebron James…get all of them to come out and just say Trump is a sick, bigoted liar who doesn’t deserve a single African American vote. It’s risky, I know, because it can always backfire and celebrities don’t like to mix in politics too often for reasons that are understandable. But these are people who have had a history of political involvement, even if on the periphery, and I hope they do it now. I really have no idea what is going on in your brain. I’ve seen you lament how Hillary desperately needs to court the centrist white vote. You have assuredly seen the polls that show Trump has historically shitty numbers with Black voters. Yet you hope that this, by your own admission risky, cavalcade of Black celebrity attacks on Trump happen. [Trump Is In Fourth Place Among Black Voters](http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/trump-is-in-fourth-place-among-black-voters/) > [@](#): > > Trump is polling worse among black voters than almost every single Republican presidential nominee since 1948 in polls taken between the party conventions and Election Day. > > Trump is currently in fourth place among black voters. You read that correctly: He’s trailing Hillary Clinton, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein. Seriously, wtf? And the OP is delusional if he thinks this media snub is on par with Hillary collapsing at a public event. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/32 "2016-09-16T20:48:01Z")
Doesn’t matter how far ahead Hillary is with black voters being polled, if Republican dominated states are going to put up roadblocks to their being able to vote, and if they manage to not count their votes if they get \*to \*the polls. ---
**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:** [September 16, 2016, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/33 "2016-09-16T21:02:08Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Doesn’t matter how far ahead Hillary is with black voters being polled, if Republican dominated states are going to put up roadblocks to their being able to vote, and if they manage to not count their votes if they get \*to \*the polls. That’s kind of a _non sequitur_ and also kind of wrong. Even if some percentage of the Black vote is suppressed what’s not will still matter. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/34 "2016-09-16T21:12:06Z")
I don’t think Trump abandoning birtherism per se hurts him with anybody much. A lot of the people answering in polls saying Obama wasn’t born here are expressing contempt for Obama more than anything else. And likewise they like the contempt Trump expresses for the PC Establishment (bipartisan) as they see it. They don’t literally believe a lot of what Trump says. This is true IME for even fairly ‘core’ supporters, those who voted for him in the GOP primaries, let alone the larger part of his 41% overall support (roughly, today’s RCP 4 way avg) who just think he’s not as bad as Clinton or he stands for change (albeit unknown) and she for a known broken status quo. It didn’t seem to have hurt Trump to waffle around on his previous statements about illegal immigration, though granted he waffled around speaking out of both sides his mouth rather than saying the opposite of his previous position ‘period’. And while that’s also partly a metaphorical issue (for ‘somehow stop the demographic shift away from whites’) it’s got more policy substance at the margin. Saying Obama wasn’t born here is just a BS issue and again IMO a lot of the people going along with birtherism actually realize that. It’s thumbing their nose at the new order, again as they see it. Trump’s, ostensibly, is to reassure non-supporter or non-core supporter white voters that he’s not a racist, so it’s OK to vote for him if they find Clinton distasteful, as many voters not attached to Trump clearly do. That might not work, and just bringing it up again could be a net negative if it further energizes black and highly race conscious left leaning whites to turn out against him. Today’s theatrics did also piss off the media, but IMHO it’s distorted view if one doesn’t see that the MSM is already out to get Trump. They liked him when he was mainly bashing and discomfiting the GOP back in the primaries. That stopped awhile ago. And it’s not the media creating a horse race. Face it, the actual electorate is about evenly split as to whether this guy or Hillary is worse, and those abandoning the major parties are also about evenly split between normally GOP voters fleeing him and normally Democratic voters fleeing her, slightly more of the latter actually it seems. But it’s hard to land a telling punch on Trump by the MSM among the voters who count at this point. I don’t think it’s an executives v editors/reporters disagreement whether to try to. Mainly they just aren’t succeeding. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/35 "2016-09-16T21:46:18Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > Today’s theatrics did also piss off the media, but IMHO it’s distorted view if one doesn’t see that the MSM is already out to get Trump. They liked him when he was mainly bashing and discomfiting the GOP back in the primaries. That stopped awhile ago. And it’s not the media creating a horse race. Face it, the actual electorate is about evenly split as to whether this guy or Hillary is worse, and those abandoning the major parties are also about evenly split between normally GOP voters fleeing him and normally Democratic voters fleeing her, slightly more of the latter actually it seems. But it’s hard to land a telling punch on Trump by the MSM among the voters who count at this point. I don’t think it’s an executives v editors/reporters disagreement whether to try to. Mainly they just aren’t succeeding. piffle, this really ignores that Trump got a free ride from the media and even a lot more recently. That they are now with more intensity up to get Trump is because they did succeed in making this a horse race so now they can go back to be more “serious” > **[Donald Trump Has Received Nearly $2 Billion In Free Media Attention](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/donald-trump-2-billion-free-media_n_56e83410e4b065e2e3d75935)** > > He's gotten more coverage than not only his Republican rivals, but also T. Swift, Kim and Kanye. As for the birtherism, The founder of Breitbart said that Obama’s birth certificate was a fake one. So a lot of the reporting was about pushing that bit of fake news to make it “real” to many. > **[The Vetting - Exclusive - Obama's Literary Agent in 1991 Booklet: 'Born in...](https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2012/05/17/the-vetting-barack-obama-literary-agent-1991-born-in-kenya-raised-indonesia-hawaii/)** > > Note from Senior Management: Andrew Breitbart was never a "Birther," and Breitbart News is a site that has never advocated the narrative of "Birtherism." | As anyone can notice on that example Breitbart has been busy whitewashing what the original articles used to say. ending up sounding like that old “I’m not racist, but…” ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/36 "2016-09-16T22:04:04Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > … And the OP is delusional if he thinks this media snub is on par with Hillary collapsing at a public event. It likely _will_ mark his inflection point back down. Polls lag a few days but I am thinking that retrospectively this is where he will have been the closest he gets. Clinton is on the trail again and Trump has changed the narrative from Clinton’s pneumonia to his own history of Birtherism and his odd lying spin about it. Debate moderators have seen Lauer’s example and will be ready to fact check both candidates during the debates in real time - for the sake of their own future careers and reputations (Lauer’s small chance at being taken seriously is now zip). Clinton be on target with her statements. Trump will make shit up. And be called out when he does. And both those who marginally support Clinton and who dislike Trump realize that a Trump win is not impossible. If the polls tightening this week represented him having a chance to win, and them going back to Clinton the +5 range over the next two weeks is him having no chance, then in two weeks this indeed will be judged as where he lost the election. Put it in the prediction file. What only **addie** gets one? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/37 "2016-09-16T22:22:52Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > Yes, I hope she will continue to speak out (building on her Democratic Convention speech). And today she did speak out - very well (I’ll let y’all search Michelle Obama birther to find it). ---
**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:** [September 16, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/38 "2016-09-16T22:24:32Z")
@DSeid: I am thinking/hoping this is the closest he gets too but I still have a hard time calling this thumb nose to the media as the inflection point. It’s just coincidentally happening as Hillary gets back on the trail acting normal. IMHO, the health scare gave Trump a short bump but keeping himself mostly constrained is what made it close enough for the bump to look scary. ---
**Author:** ![computergeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e56c9b/32.png) [@computergeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/computergeek)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/39 "2016-09-16T22:28:29Z")
As someone said in other topic, Trump pulling near even with Clinton may give a good enough scare into Democrats and others to get people off their duffs and help with GOTV and other stuff. It’s likely there were a lot of Clinton supporters who were feeling complacent before the polls tightened ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103/40 "2016-09-16T22:41:51Z")
Hillary’s lead is still hemorrhaging at 538. I’m afraid we’ll all be posting to a “how can we impeach this floppy-haired SOB” thread come November. Donald is still getting the press. Front page coverage for saying Obama was born in America. Front page coverage for that, can you believe that shit? Imagine the coverage he’d get if he declared the US really did land on the moon. The press follows him like a dog chasing a bone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-just-lost-the-election/766103.md?page=3)