# Donald Trump's 2016 General Election Campaign **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 4, 2016, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901 "2016-05-04T02:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 106
**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:** [June 30, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2102 "2016-06-30T20:47:54Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > [Ditka declines convention invite, slams Republicans for not getting behind Trump.](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chicagoinc/ct-mike-ditka-donald-trump-republican-convention0-630-chicago-inc-20160629-story.html) > > "Still, he (Ditka) said, “The Republican Party has its head up its ass — if he’s the candidate, you’ve got to get behind him. It does the party no good. They’re a bunch of assholes.” I saw that article in the Trib this morning. My thought was that it never occurred to Team Trump that Ditka would turn down the chance to speak at the convention. It looks like a major speech will be by Ivanka. It’s a little sad when the best people you can come up with to speak for you are your children. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2103 "2016-06-30T20:59:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Trump finally weighs in on the SC abortion ruling - in an [even more impotent, flailing fashion](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-scotus-abortion-texas) than you would have imagined possible; > > > [@](#): > > > > … > > To be clear, the Supreme Court voted 5-3 against the Texas law, and a ninth justice would not have been enough to change the court’s opinion. > > From which he proceeded into just general nonsense; Let’s be fair, the Justices don’t individually go into isolation and cast anonymous ballots after the case is argued. They do discuss the case and look at each other’s work. I am sure that if Trump had appointed a ninth Justice, that Justice would have been so eloquent and so well-reasoned that he would have convinced at least one other Justice to see his point. And if no one did, he would have started bashing skulls until he had 5 votes. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2104 "2016-06-30T21:01:58Z")
Trump only appoints the Best justices. You’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2105 "2016-06-30T21:05:34Z")
Well, the Klan is happy Trump is doing well: > [@The NYT](#): > > KKK leader Brent Waller, imperial wizard of the United Dixie White Knights in Mississippi, said stopping immigration — not blocking minority rights — is the Klan’s No. 1 issue today. > > And other Klan leaders say Donald Trump’s ascendancy in the GOP is a sign things are going their way. > > “You know, we began 40 years ago saying we need to build a wall,” Arkansas-based Klan leader Thomas Robb said. > > Despite trying to rebrand itself, the Klan has not stepped away from burning crosses. As the sun set on a warm Saturday in April, Klan members gathered in a huge circle in a northwest Georgia field to set a cross and Nazi swastika afire. > > “White power!” they chanted in unison. > > “Death to the ungodly! Death to our enemies!” [http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/06/30/us/ap-us-the-klan-at-150-abridged.html?smid=tw-share&\_r=0&referer=](http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2016/06/30/us/ap-us-the-klan-at-150-abridged.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0&referer=) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2106 "2016-06-30T21:08:59Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Trump only appoints the Best justices. You’ll see. Somehow, I imagine Trump would appoint the kind of justice who spells their name “john: free and sovereign person of the family smith, created by ALMIGHTY GOD”, who is utterly sure that their utterance of certain magic words forces the powers of man and God alike to bow before them, and who has nothing but kind words to say about “Mr. Trump” (always addressed as such). “He’s a winner,” Trump would say. “I like people who win.” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2107 "2016-06-30T21:15:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Trump only appoints the Best justices. You’ll see. And Mexico will pay his salary. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2108 "2016-06-30T21:27:51Z")
Trump interrupts a speech, in **New Hampshire** , to speculate that a small plane flying overheard might be “[a Mexican plane getting ready to attack](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-mexico-attack-plane)”. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2109 "2016-06-30T21:52:16Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Trump interrupts a speech, in **New Hampshire** , to speculate that a small plane flying overheard might be “[a Mexican plane getting ready to attack](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-mexico-attack-plane)”. Luckily Mexicans can’t cross walls they paid for or running water. ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2110 "2016-06-30T22:36:14Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Is Trump leading in any state that’s been polled recently? Where \*are \*his safe havens anymore? Recent polls in Texas have in up by 5-7 points ([Texas | 2016 Election Forecast | FiveThirtyEight](http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/texas/)). Which, for a GOP candidate in Texas is almost comically terrible, but is still almost certainly enough to win the state. And of course no one bothers to poll places like West Virginia, Oklahoma, Idaho, or Alabama that often, but you can be pretty sure he’ll win those. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2111 "2016-06-30T23:54:48Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > He’s concerned that potentially violent people may find out that he really doesn’t support Hillary, so he publicly posts that he really doesn’t support Hillary. That makes sense to him I suppose. Right, he’s giving new meaning to “pro forma” there. :rolleyes: And how wimpy does he sound, to whine that a bunch of scary mean Democrats have intimidated him out of supporting the candidate he wants to? > [@TheSeaOtter](#): > > Recent polls in Texas have in up by 5-7 points ([Texas | 2016 Election Forecast | FiveThirtyEight](http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/texas/)). Which, for a GOP candidate in Texas is almost comically terrible, but is still almost certainly enough to win the state. And of course no one bothers to poll places like West Virginia, Oklahoma, Idaho, or Alabama that often, but you can be pretty sure he’ll win those. It still boggles my mind that WV has become \*that \*kind of state. Only twenty years ago, Bill Clinton won the state by 15 points–his second straight double digit win there. Hell, _Mike Dukakis_ won the state comfortably. So in 2000, the Gore campaign took it for granted and didn’t spend any money or visit there, Rove saw an opportunity and pounced, and the rest is history. (Although it’s only five electoral votes, that would have been enough to give Gore the presidency, making Florida irrelevant.) Now, as you point out, it’s the kind of state the \*Republicans \*can take for granted. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2112 "2016-07-01T01:05:55Z")
this seems the most appropriate place to post … I thought ya all were going to run to Canada… **[Brexit and Donald Trump: Why the world is suddenly searching for New Zealand property](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11666757)** ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2113 "2016-07-01T01:33:10Z")
Trump blames the media for his [plummeting poll numbers](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/trump-polls-performance-224982#ixzz4D7FiIrMp): > [@](#): > > “I go to Ohio, we were there two days ago, and Pennsylvania and near Pittsburgh and we — I was in West Virginia, the crowds are massive. And you know, I walked out of one, and I said, ‘I don’t see how I’m not leading,'” Trump said, invoking the size of his crowds. > > "We have thousands of people standing outside trying to get in, and they’re great people and they have such spirit for the country and love for the country, and I’m saying, you know, ‘Why am I not doing better in the polls? > > … > > "But you know, you have to understand, your show, no, but many shows it’s just a constant hit from mainstream media, no matter what you do, it’s always a negative.” Millions of dollars of free media time is the reason Trump sucks so bad. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2114 "2016-07-01T01:48:15Z")
> [@Anny\_Middon](#): > > It looks like a major speech will be by Ivanka. It’s a little sad when the best people you can come up with to speak for you are your children. Could be worse. She might have turned him down too. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2016, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2115 "2016-07-01T02:11:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The _Dilbert_ creator is saying nice things about The Donald? Ugh. I thought better of him than that. Worse, I’ve read he’s also a proponent of Intelligent Design Theory. Really. (I still enjoy Dilbert though.) > [@Smapti](#): > > Trump interrupts a speech, in **New Hampshire** , to speculate that a small plane flying overheard might be “[a Mexican plane getting ready to attack](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/trump-mexico-attack-plane)”. Jesus Fucking Christ. It’s official now – Abraham Lincoln is turning over in his grave. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2116 "2016-07-01T02:20:06Z")
To date, Trump’s post-nomination campaign might be the worst political campaign I’ve ever seen. It’s so bad I’ve seriously wondered if he’s not the political equivalent of the 1919 Black Sox. Maybe someone paid him to take a dive? Maybe he’s just the greatest troll of all time? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2117 "2016-07-01T02:24:04Z")
> [@TheSeaOtter](#): > > Recent polls in Texas have in up by 5-7 points ([Texas | 2016 Election Forecast | FiveThirtyEight](http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/texas/)). Which, for a GOP candidate in Texas is almost comically terrible, but is still almost certainly enough to win the state. And of course no one bothers to poll places like West Virginia, Oklahoma, Idaho, or Alabama that often, but you can be pretty sure he’ll win those. One would think that Trump should win those, but there’s even some doubt as to whether or not Trump is even a republican, and he didn’t help matters by saying he’s running against two parties. And while normally I’d agree that OK and TX are out of reach, Hillary and Bill have lots of connections to the energy sector that go way, way back. They were also once the first family of neighboring Arkansas. Yes times have changed, but anywhere Donald didn’t do well - and he didn’t in OK and TX - could be considered a battleground the way things are going. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2118 "2016-07-01T03:44:19Z")
> [@OttoDaFe](#): > > One thing I haven’t seen mentioned — perhaps because I’ve been trying to avoid election “news” — is the respective campaigns’ GOTV strategies. While the personnel are probably different, I would imagine that the Clinton camp can build on the highly successful methods used by Obama in 2008 and (especially) 2012; the Trump campaign. on the other hand, has [ORCA](http://www.cnet.com/news/why-romneys-orca-killer-app-beached-on-election-day/), the 2012 Romney program that crashed on election day due to problems most second-year CompSci students would have anticipated and dealt with. > > Of course, all that may be moot given the lack of a Trump organization in the first place, but it’s still something I’d be interested in hearing about. I think it’s a bit worse than even that. First, when perusing the Trumpster’s site I saw that they have a pretty bad process to put up the transcripts of the speeches. The links to the footnotes try to take you to someone’s hard drive. And today, apparentely, many Members of Parliament received e-mails asking them to donate for the Donald’s campaign. Which, again, points to a non-working IT department. In other words, they don’t even have a crashing system they built themselves. The Donald’s idea of a “lean” IT department seems to involve buying stuff of the shelves and asking the interns to operate them. :eek::smack: ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2119 "2016-07-01T13:50:30Z")
Man that WaPo investigation into Donald’s charity work is the gift that keeps on giving. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/01/donald-trump-used-money-donated-for-charity-to-buy-himself-a-tim-tebow-signed-football-helmet/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/01/donald-trump-used-money-donated-for-charity-to-buy-himself-a-tim-tebow-signed-football-helmet/) It turns out that four years ago, Donald attended a Susan G Koman event, where they held a charity auction - people buy stuff and the money goes to Koman. Donald bid and won a Tebow signed Bronco’s helmet for $12k. Only he didn’t put up the money for it himself - he had his own charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation send the check to Susan G. Koman. > [@WaPo article](#): > > But Trump didn’t actually pay with his own money. > > Instead, the Susan G. Komen organization – the breast-cancer nonprofit that hosted the party – got a $12,000 payment from another nonprofit , the Donald J. Trump Foundation. > > Trump himself sent no money (In fact, a Komen spokesperson said, Trump has never given a personal gift of cash to the Komen organization). He paid the bill with money from a charity he founded in 1987, but which is largely stocked with other people’s money. Trump is the foundation’s president. But, at the time of the auction, Trump had given none of his own money to the foundation for three years running. So now the big question is - what became of that Tebow helmet. If a charity, like the Trump Foundation, buys something with its money and gives it to one of its own officers, then that would break an IRS rule for something called “self-dealing”. At that the point, the person who receives the charity has to notify the IRS and pay a penalty. Instead, the Trump Foundation in 2012 checked the box on its tax return saying that it had not done any self dealing. Obviously, if they are found to have lied about it, that would be Bad. So what became of the Tebow stuff? > [@Wapo](#): > > If they are still in Trump’s possession – perhaps on display at one of his homes or properties – that might be deemed improper, if the IRS ever looks. > > “That would be a classic violation of the prohibition on a charity being operated for the private inurement (benefit) of the charity’s creator,” wrote Brett G. Kappel, an expert on tax-exempt organizations at the Akerman law firm in Washington. The Trump Foundation does not appear to have offices of its own: it is headquartered at Trump’s business offices in New York, and has no full-time staff. > > The best case for Trump, experts said, would be if he had given the helmet and jersey away to another charity, perhaps to be auctioned off at another fundraiser. > > “If…the foundation paid for it, and they owned the helmet, and the helmet was given to someone as a charitable activity,” that would be enough, said John Edie, now retired, who was the longtime general counsel at the Council on Foundations. > > Edie said Trump could not get off the hook by simply giving the memorabilia to a friend. > > “Spending $12,000 for a helmet and then giving it to a golfing buddy is not” charity, Edie said. So far, Trump is refusing to answer questions about the Tebow gear. Hopefully the Washington Post keeps digging. I doubt Trump’s shady charity dealings ended in 2012. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2016, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2120 "2016-07-01T14:07:20Z")
Yeah he’s a crook and a stupid one, blah blah blah. Who do you think will have their minds changed about him based on reports like this? Do his supporters read WaPo? Even if there is an IRS investigation it will only be heard by them as part of the establishment trying to take him down. Or they will say that maybe he’s not so honest but (they believe) Clinton is worse. ---
**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:** [July 1, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2121 "2016-07-01T14:17:29Z")
Well it might change some people who are just voting against Hillary but aren’t really Trump supporters. If it gets cemented that he’s “just as much a crook as she is” then maybe some of them will vote for the coherent sane crook. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=105) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=107)