# Donald Trump announces presidential run **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 16, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679 "2015-06-16T16:35:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/481 "2015-08-11T17:57:56Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > I apologize. I thought in the context of the discussion, it was somewhat obvious he said something stupid, and if interested, click, and if not, don’t. Now you’ve wasted two posts not telling us what you want us to know. FFS, use your keyboard and fight some ignorance by disseminating some information. Are you new to the internet or something? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/482 "2015-08-11T18:07:24Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Now you’ve wasted two posts not telling us what you want us to know. FFS, use your keyboard and fight some ignorance by disseminating some information. Are you new to the internet or something? 😕 Jeebus, lighten up. That is not an appropriate response to an apology. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/483 "2015-08-11T18:26:55Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Now you’ve wasted two posts not telling us what you want us to know. FFS, use your keyboard and fight some ignorance by disseminating some information. Are you new to the internet or something? 😕 I’m sorry. This was the first sentence of the article when it was published August 8. > [@](#): > > Donald Trump has been officially banned from one of the biggest gatherings of conservative activists after implying he received hostile questioning during the first Republican presidential debate because the television moderator was menstruating. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/484 "2015-08-11T20:31:10Z")
I like this one: > **[Hurricane Trump blows away speech police: Column](https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/08/11/trump-megyn-kelly-ailes-speech-debate-column/31419727/)** > > With every windy pronouncement, the cacophony cops look weaker and sillier. The activists, academics, politicians and journalists whose frantic daily search for outrage in something someone said somewhere have left us a presidential campaign focused on menstruation and reports that Fox News chairman Roger Ailes called Donald Trump to whisper sweet nothings in his ear. It’s like the boys’ locker room in middle school without the air of sophistication. The landfall of Hurricane Trump couldn’t have come at a better time. For Americans who’d like Washington to focus on reality and not the pointless controversy of the moment, the flippant billionaire seems to be a source of the problem, but they have it all wrong. He’s the solution. With Storm Donald and his whirlwind of offensive comments now blowing by at 140 ratings points an hour, there might be some hope that, in the chaos, our farcical national debate might change. … TV anchors, opposing politicians and the social media mob can’t get worked into a good frenzy before another Category Five Trumpism flattens the next taboo. By the time the tut-tutting morality police show up, Hurricane Donald’s path of destruction has moved on to another state or another network. … Today, if you attack racism, but don’t genuflect properly, your attack on racism can be racist. Ask Kelly Osborne who, appearing on The View, uttered an insufficiently politically correct defense of Hispanics against Trump’s attacks on allegedly criminal Mexicans. While Trump’s ferocity blew on, Osborne delivered an abject apology. The only sane response is laughter. The fury of Storm Trump has blown away the cover of respectability that let the speech police and their social media mob hijack our ability to talk to each other without having to constantly talk about how we are talking to each other all wrong. This explains very nicely one aspect of why Trump is popular and why his motormouth bursts are excused. ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/485 "2015-08-12T02:41:41Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > You guys are priceless! > > First, Trump was a crazy clown in a crazy clown car. Then he picks up steam and you’re bumfuzzled. Then he’s the front-runner but only because of advice from Bill Clinton. > > It’ll be interesting to see how you’ll claim that your guys cleverly engineered it if he winds up in the White House. 😃 I just posted this in another thread but suppose this is the more appropriate thread. The notion that Trump is truly the frontrunner because of current polling is a reach. > [@](#): > > But the problem isn’t just that the national polls at this stage in the race lack empirical power to predict the nomination; it’s also that they describe a fiction. I don’t mean to suggest that Donald Trump’s support in the polls is “fake.” I have no doubt that some people really love him or that he’d be the favorite if you held a national, winner-take-all Republican primary tomorrow. However, the “election” these polls describe is hypothetical in at least five ways: > > [ul] > [li]They contemplate a vote today, but we’re currently 174 days from the Iowa caucuses.[/li][li]They contemplate a national primary, but states vote one at a time or in small groups.[/li][li]They contemplate a race with 17 candidates, but several candidates will drop out before Iowa and several more will drop out before the other states vote.[/li][li]They contemplate1 a winner-take-all vote, but most states are not winner-take-all.[/li][li]They contemplate a vote among all Republican-leaning registered voters or adults, but in fact only a small fraction of them will turn out for primaries and caucuses.[/li][li]This is why it’s exasperating that the mainstream media has become obsessed with how Trump is performing in these polls.[/li][/ul] > **[Donald Trump Is Winning The Polls — And Losing The Nomination](https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-winning-the-polls-and-losing-the-nomination/)** > > Twelve years ago, in August 2003, Joe Lieberman led in most polls of the Democratic primary. Eight years ago, in August 2007, Rudy Giuliani maintained a clear l… ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/486 "2015-08-12T07:23:28Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > I’m sorry. This was the first sentence of the article when it was published August 8. > > > [@](#): > > > > Donald Trump has been officially banned from one of the biggest gatherings of conservative activists after implying he received hostile questioning during the first Republican presidential debate because the television moderator was menstruating. And what happened next? AFAICT, “one of the biggest gatherings of conservative activists” basically disappeared from view. Nobody who wasn’t there seems to have paid the slightest attention to it. The effect of Erick’s disinvitation was to add to the storm that made the weekend all about Trump. Redstate? What Redstate? Erick thought he was displaying his own power to act as a GOP gatekeeper, but instead, he disappeared his own self. Sweet. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/487 "2015-08-12T13:36:47Z")
How much of Trump’s appeal is rooted in the fact that he is able to finance his own campaign and therefore will not be indebted to contributors? Maybe Republicans are just as repelled as are Democrats by the idea of politicians being bought. Trump and Sanders have something in common- neither of them can be bought. Didn’t read the whole thread, so sorry if this was already brought up. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/488 "2015-08-12T13:43:07Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > How much of Trump’s appeal is rooted in the fact that he is able to finance his own campaign and therefore will not be indebted to contributors? Maybe Republicans are just as repelled as are Democrats by the idea of politicians being bought. Trump and Sanders have something in common- neither of them can be bought. My decidedly-opinionated view is that Trump is popular because he’s an asshole that can get away with being an asshole who is most popular with assholes who wish they could also get away with being assholes and therefore live vicariously through Trump. He’s also aided by the media who are aware that people like watching Trump, either because they support him or because they consider him a freakshow, and therefore the more exposure they give to Trump the better their ratings. Whether this is something he can ride to the White House - I don’t know but God, I hope not. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/489 "2015-08-12T14:04:39Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > My decidedly-opinionated view is that Trump is popular because he’s an asshole that can get away with being an asshole who is most popular with assholes who wish they could also get away with being assholes and therefore live vicariously through Trump. He’s also aided by the media who are aware that people like watching Trump, either because they support him or because they consider him a freakshow, and therefore the more exposure they give to Trump the better their ratings. > > Whether this is something he can ride to the White House - I don’t know but God, I hope not. You are probably onto the best explanation, but I’d like to see a good pollster investigate the question. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/490 "2015-08-12T14:12:42Z")
> [@MacCat](#): > > I’m sorry. This was the first sentence of the article when it was published August 8. Thank you. Yes, Mr. Trump’s comments certainly did light up the internet for a couple of days there, eh. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/491 "2015-08-12T14:17:42Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > How much of Trump’s appeal is rooted in the fact that he is able to finance his own campaign and therefore will not be indebted to contributors? Maybe Republicans are just as repelled as are Democrats by the idea of politicians being bought. Trump and Sanders have something in common- neither of them can be bought. > > Didn’t read the whole thread, so sorry if this was already brought up. I can’t imagine how _any_ of his popularity is associated at all with self-financing. I have never heard it mentioned by anyone, and why would anyone care at this stage of the process. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Duality](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.duality/32/4098_2.png) [@Mr.Duality](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Duality)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/492 "2015-08-12T15:00:20Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I can’t imagine how _any_ of his popularity is associated at all with self-financing. I have never heard it mentioned by anyone, and why would anyone care at this stage of the process. Neither have I ever heard it mentioned (by anyone other than myself). However, that’s one reason why I like Bernie; he can’t be bought. I can well imagine part of Trumps popularity being due to the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/493 "2015-08-12T20:25:15Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > Neither have I ever heard it mentioned (by anyone other than myself). However, that’s one reason why I like Bernie; he can’t be bought. I can well imagine part of Trumps popularity being due to the same reason. Well here is one: [http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/michigan-gets-full-trump-show-121281.html?hp=rc2\_4](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/08/michigan-gets-full-trump-show-121281.html?hp=rc2_4) “I am a [Ted] Cruz supporter, but I will vote for Donald Trump because he cannot be bought,” said Bob Gillmann, 57, a laid-off lab manager at a shuttered chemical factory who wore shoulder-length hair, a denim button-down and socks with sandals as he nursed a Budweiser tallboy. “I would support Trump third party.” ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/494 "2015-08-12T20:40:44Z")
I’m with the socks-and-sandals guy every time! ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/495 "2015-08-12T22:34:48Z")
> [@Mr.Duality](#): > > However, that’s one reason why I like Bernie; he can’t be bought. I can well imagine part of Trumps popularity being due to the same reason. A couple days ago I saw a short video clip from a Trump supporter that said “last election” she supported Hillary. She really said last election. ISTR her rationale had a healthy dose of Hillary serving others and not the people who voted for her. ISTR it as a strong implication of being bought like Donald couldn’t. It was a little disjointed and I don’t think she explicitly used the word bought. I admit to being distracted by the “last election” piece. I’ am NOT going to look for it, let alone watch it, again. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/496 "2015-08-12T22:46:42Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > A couple days ago I saw a short video clip from a Trump supporter that said “last election” she supported Hillary. She really said last election. ISTR her rationale had a healthy dose of Hillary serving others and not the people who voted for her. ISTR it as a strong implication of being bought like Donald couldn’t. It was a little disjointed and I don’t think she explicitly used the word bought. I admit to being distracted by the “last election” piece. I’ am NOT going to look for it, let alone watch it, again. 😃 What exactly is wrong with “last election”? She obviously meant “last presidential primary election”. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/497 "2015-08-13T00:32:07Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > What exactly is wrong with “last election”? She obviously meant “last presidential primary election”. Even if she did, Hillary _still_ wasn’t a candidate in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/498 "2015-08-13T00:59:14Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Even if she did, Hillary _still_ wasn’t a candidate in 2012. ? But the “last presidential primary election” wasn’t in 2012. So she wasn’t referring to 2012 election. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/499 "2015-08-13T01:11:56Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’m with the socks-and-sandals guy every time! Me, too, but only if the socks are dark, and over the knee. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679/500 "2015-08-13T02:06:50Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > ? But the “last presidential primary election” wasn’t in 2012. So she wasn’t referring to 2012 election. Just because there wasn’t much of a competition there was actually a primary on the Democratic side. People besides Obama won delegates (I believe all stripped pre-convention by the DNC for rules violations.) She’s obviously willing to cross parties so she could have voted in the other if there wasn’t a competitor to Obama in her state. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-announces-presidential-run/722679.md?page=26)