My fear and prediction is that Clinton has no effective manner to oppose Trump’s lies. Burdened by inherent societal misogyny, 25 years of slander embedded into the public consciousness, and the lack of charisma, the general public just won’t buy anything she says standing next to the supremely confident bluster of a man who is unburdened by knowledge, scruples, policy, or thought. He won’t need a friendly crowd to pull it off.
The only way I can see it going badly for him is if Clinton and the moderators actually goad him into popping a gasket and he actually throws an uncontrolled, wild-eyed, drooling fit.
I have no confidence in the mainstream press as moderators when they have spent the last year alternately kissing his ass and giving him a pass on every damn thing.
Political journalism is dead. The last year of press coverage shows you how a democracy elects a dictator.
Meh, respect for the First Amendment seems on the decline on both the left and the right. The left wages war against the Citizens United decision, Trump threatens libel lawsuits, the Dems on the FCC wants to stifle conservative voices on the radio and internet, the IRS targets conservative organizations, college kids cry to the university president when people chalk “Trump for President” on the sidewalk, etc.
…yes and no. It could be all about the birth certificate, and not the question of, or the doubting of, Obama’s place of birth. When I worked for Republican politicians in NH, in 2008, there were questions about both Obama and McCain with respect to citizenship. These quieted among most people before the election.
The issue turned into some people loudly demanding that Obama release his actual birth certificate, then for some third party or other to produce one. I had a unique insight into this that legions of other people did not – when my first child was born, her father and I weren’t married. Her birth certificate from a small, sleepy New England town reflects this with additional layers of privacy and some rather surprising and outdated phrasing upon it. Her long form is strictly official, and does not have any of that. So I had a pretty good guess as to the answer to both questions that ran concurrently for a while – why won’t they shut up about the birth certificate, and why won’t Obama release it?
It’s the documentation itself that was the prize, IMO, and not the vetting questions it would purportedly satisfy. You can see Trump sort of hinting around at it in this transcript in 2011. I’ve just skimmed today’s stories but he hasn’t exactly challenged my beliefs here - Obama being born in the US is not in doubt (according to Trump), Trump did not start the rumors that he wasn’t (granted), but he’s long aspired to obtain that record anyway.
Besides the mass deportation of US citizens, declaring that criminal suspects shouldn’t receive medical care or legal representation or food, wanting to detain people indefinitely without trial, censoring the media, wanting to shut down parts of the internet, calling “freedom of expression” a threat to national security, imposing religious tests on the population, declaring that only he can “fix” the country, wanting to replace the military leadership with people loyal to him and massively build up its size, threatening to start wars unilaterally, and suggesting that his opponents be murdered?
But first, a question for octopus: Would you consider the actions described by Smapti to be those of a despot…or those of a president you desire to be in power?
FWIW, and it’s early yet, the first polls including the date the op identified as “the day” are out this morning. NBC/SM Clinton +5 in the two-way and the two-way LV both. RV to RV it was +6, up two points from the previous week. The LA Times tracker moved two points Clintonward too. Note, the majority of the polling period was not after the date in question.
Trackers may not be great for absolute amount but they do well for trends, especially when they agree.
Not enough to conclude anything from but consistent with the premise of the op so far.
I cannot make sense of your post. :o I don’t understand the intents of parts. Some parts that I do understand are clearly false. Something I might glean is a concern that Obama’s parents weren’t married — is that it?
I didn’t study the transcript you linked to. I did scan it for the first quote by Mr. Trump. Here it is: (Was this your point?)
[QUOTE=Donald J. Trump in 2011 CNN interview]
There was supposed to be a birth certificate. I don’t think it exists, Anderson. I hope it exists, but I don’t think it exists. [my emphasis]
[/QUOTE]