# 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:** 119
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2362 "2016-07-09T23:05:41Z")
Trump is supposedly [giving serious consideration](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/09/a-curveball-in-trumps-veep-search-hes-seriously-considering-a-retired-general/?postshare=6911468082970714&tid=ss_tw) to retired Lt. General Michael Flynn for the vice-president spot. > [@](#): > > The turn toward a military figure is being driven by Trump himself rather than by his advisers, the people said, and comes as the real estate mogul is telling his friends that national unrest may demand a “tough and steady” presence alongside him on the ticket. > > In Flynn, they added, Trump thinks he would have a partner whom he trusts, based on their close working relationship over the course of the campaign on policy. And he likes the image of a businessman and a general coming to Washington as outsiders. People within the campaign are still pushing for a “traditional” pick (Gingrich, Pence, etc) but Trump is – per the stories – jazzed up on the idea of Flynn and doesn’t feel he needs a choice that appeals to mainstream Republican types. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2363 "2016-07-09T23:26:34Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Trump is supposedly [giving serious consideration](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/09/a-curveball-in-trumps-veep-search-hes-seriously-considering-a-retired-general/?postshare=6911468082970714&tid=ss_tw) to retired Lt. General Michael Flynn for the vice-president spot. > People within the campaign are still pushing for a “traditional” pick (Gingrich, Pence, etc) but Trump is – per the stories – jazzed up on the idea of Flynn and doesn’t feel he needs a choice that appeals to mainstream Republican types. From the link. > [@](#): > > “Trump-Flynn. I’ve heard him say that, kind of test out the sound of it,” one person said of how Trump is mulling the possibility. “I think it’s a brand he finds appealing.” Maybe adds a little curl to the “Y” in Flynn. And the hyphen is a happy face. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2364 "2016-07-09T23:40:04Z")
And it’d rhyme with pumpkin! ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2365 "2016-07-09T23:42:22Z")
Flynn’s chief qualification seems to be that he hates Obama for firing him. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2366 "2016-07-09T23:55:14Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Flynn’s chief qualification seems to be that he hates Obama for firing him. He’s also a general which Trump feels will be important when we have “national unrest” – doesn’t that make you feel better? Maybe he needs a military liaison for convincing the troops to murder terrorist families and violate the _Posse Comitatus Act_. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2367 "2016-07-09T23:59:23Z")
Trump is now joking (?) that if he gets elected, he may not serve. Typical comment of a narcissistic egomaniac. > **[Trump quips about winning in November -- and not serving as president | CNN...](https://www.cnn.com/2016/07/08/politics/donald-trump-will-he-serve-if-he-wins/index.html)** > > Donald Trump loves being unpredictable -- it's a valuable card in any good negotiator's hands, he insists. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2368 "2016-07-10T00:24:41Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Trump is now joking (?) that if he gets elected, he may not serve. > > Typical comment of a narcissistic egomaniac. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/08/politics/donald-trump-will-he-serve-if-he-wins/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/08/politics/donald-trump-will-he-serve-if-he-wins/index.html) I might be giving him too much credit, but: imagine folks who’d oh-so-very-much love to cast a protest vote, but who are hesitating because, well, he’s Trump. What could reassure them that, _no, it’s cool; you don’t really think he’d serve, right?_ ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2369 "2016-07-10T01:16:46Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > And it’d rhyme with pumpkin! Don’t you mean Blumpkin? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2370 "2016-07-10T01:24:11Z")
I was just going for “orange”, but, yeah, okay, sure. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2016, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2371 "2016-07-10T03:21:23Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Trump is now joking (?) that if he gets elected, he may not serve. Last one who promised that burned the South. ---
**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:** [July 10, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2372 "2016-07-10T04:09:09Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > Last one who promised that burned the South. Well, parts of Georgia and South Carolina, anyway - but years before he said it. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2373 "2016-07-10T04:42:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Trump is an empty suit who’s good at pandering to the mob. He has no serious policy whatsoever, just “I’m going to make America Great!” And no filter, and no interest but himself. He can’t govern his own mouth let alone an entire country. > > Well, maybe a banana republic. > > The fact that he hearkens back to historical (and historically backwards) beliefs is no proof of his competence in any way, shape, or form. I never asserted he was competent much less that his policies were good. Nonetheless, the fact remains he does have a set of policy views and it’s not as if (again) mainstream Republicans are any less terrible in their socioeconomic policies considering their obsession with destroying the New Deal and Great Society. > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Perhaps it would be instructive to look at Trump in the light of [Lawrence Britt’s 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism.](http://rense.com/general37/fascism.htm) > > 1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism. Check. Make America great again. Trump certainly isn’t alone in this, so we can’t single him out here. > > 2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights- Check. He wants to do worse than waterboard. He wants to spy on mosques. Trump leads the pack in this category. > > 3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause. Check. Mexicans and Muslims are the enemy, according to CheetoFace. > > 4.Supremacy of the Military. Check. Trump vows to “build up” the military, despite the US nearly spending as much on it as the rest of the world combined. To be fair, EVERY Republican save for Rand Paul parrots the same line. > > 1. Rampant Sexism. Check. Raped a girl in 1993. Owned a beauty pageant. Thinks that female journalists who ask tough questions must be menstruating. > > 2. Controlled Mass Media. Check. Wants to change libel laws so he can sue news organizations easier. > > 3. Obsession With National Security. Check. Wall with Mexico. Ban on Muslims entering country. > > 4. Religion and Government are Intertwined. Check. Wants to mobilize Christians and make them hate Muslims. > > 5. Corporate Power is Protected. Check. Sort of a litmus test for Republicans. > > 6. Labor Power is Suppressed. Check. Wants to bust unions in his own empire. > > 7. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts. Check. Dismisses global warming. > > 8. Obsession with Crime and Punishment. Check. Wants his supporters to bust heads at his rallies. Mocks Black Lives Matter and sides with police when they murder blacks. > > 9. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption. Check. Funnels campaign spending to benefit his own companies. Claims charitable contributions that did not exist. > > 10. Fraudulent Elections. Check. Conducts smear campaigns against opponents. Working with Republicans to suppress voting through phony ID requirements. > In view of the above, I think it’s reasonable to conclude that Trump is fascist. There have been other political movements in American past that share many of these traits but I think that Trump covers all of the points better than anyone in US history. The problem with those criteria is the way you are applying them, they are broad enough to pretty much include any even mildly authoritarian regime. For example, Stalin’s USSR would have checked off all of these except #9. Actual fascists go much beyond what you list-plenty of democratic countries (including us) have had government make efforts to suppress the media (often far more blatantly then Trump’s threats to free up libel suits) and have held corrupt elections. The difference is that actual fascist regimes went beyond these indirect and amateurish methods to simply outlawing any meaningful opposition in the press or politics. > [@RickJay](#): > > My observation that he has no political views is based on the fact that he expresses few, as well as a study of the man and his apparent, complete absence of any principle beyond the desire to take other people’s money. I suggest you look up his statements from far back as _Art of the Deal_. His complaints about the US getting ripped off in trade with China is as much a trait of him as his hair or sexual conquests. > [@](#): > > Every view Donald Trump has is somehow connected to how he can personally make money from it, especially regarding trade. 1. One’s political views are generally driven by self-interest and 2) how is he going to make money through his protectionist policies? It’s not like Trump owns a steel mill in western Pennsylvania. My personal two cents is that his mercantilist views on trade are indeed related to his ways of doing business due to his essentially seeing the world as a zero-sum game. > [@](#): > > Well, not all of them, no. As has been noted, the most extreme example of this is that Utah, the reddest state in the Union in 2012 and damn close in 2008, is now just barely red by the skin of the Donald’s teeth; Mormons, a reliable Republican demographic, regard him as being equivalent to dog poo. Trump does not have the entire base on his side by any stretch of the imagination, but is partially making it back on very high popularity among working class white men, enough to draw some into the party. You do have a point about the Mormons. On the other hand, he’s shown that most Republicans weren’t voting for the party for guest worker programs, abolishing Medicare/Social Security, or _Weekly Standard_-approved foreign wars. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2374 "2016-07-10T04:43:53Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Trump is supposedly [giving serious consideration](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/09/a-curveball-in-trumps-veep-search-hes-seriously-considering-a-retired-general/?postshare=6911468082970714&tid=ss_tw) to retired Lt. General Michael Flynn for the vice-president spot. > People within the campaign are still pushing for a “traditional” pick (Gingrich, Pence, etc) but Trump is – per the stories – jazzed up on the idea of Flynn and doesn’t feel he needs a choice that appeals to mainstream Republican types. Trump’s Curtis LeMay. Also quite the Russophile. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2375 "2016-07-10T14:29:20Z")
On Friday Mark Shields, the Avatar of Frumpy, said Trump was “an egomaniac with an inferiority complex”. David Brooks said some stuff too. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2376 "2016-07-10T15:50:30Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > David Brooks said some stuff too. The last thing I heard out of Brooks’ whine-hole was [a demand that a successful Democratic government destroy its ability to govern by attempting to compromise with the party of government shutdowns and other temper tantrums](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/26/opinion/the-governing-cancer-of-our-time.html): > [@Mush From The Wimp](#): > > The answer to Trump is politics. It’s acknowledging other people exist. It’s taking pleasure in that difference and hammering out workable arrangements. As Harold Laski put it, “We shall make the basis of our state consent to disagreement. Therein shall we ensure its deepest harmony.” One of the biggest tools the Republicans have right now is denial of context: In isolation, Brooks’ jeremiad seems reasonable. In context, it’s him advocating that we try to continue to talk sense with a party which has demonstrated that it’s willing to go to the mat with ridiculous demands and elect people who refuse to be politicians. Trump is one thing, but Cruz and everyone who supports Cruz is evidence of an even worse dysfunction. Saying this is all Trump is ignoring the actual issue. Republicans don’t want disagreement. They want total capitulation or they want a fight. Our only hope is to shove them out of power long enough for them to figure out that that isn’t how it works. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2377 "2016-07-11T02:30:46Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > …Republicans don’t want disagreement. They want total capitulation or they want a fight. Our only hope is to shove them out of power long enough for them to figure out that that isn’t how it works. Preach it! ---
**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:** [July 11, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2378 "2016-07-11T03:30:32Z")
Before this is left behind, thanks to all the bad news and no indictment of Clinton, the spam operation of Trump’s campaign needs a mention. [http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/oh-nos-trump-cut-off-by-bulk-email-sender-for-epic-spamming](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/oh-nos-trump-cut-off-by-bulk-email-sender-for-epic-spamming) > [@](#): > > Who could have imagined this? As we noted a week ago, the Trump camp’s massive fundraising blitz ending up hitting legislators in numerous foreign countries as well as spamming a seemingly limitless number of victims around the world. According to ReturnPath, 79% of Trump fundraising emails were caught in spam filters, an extremely high rate by industry standards, seemingly because Trump was using purchased or rented lists rather than ones the campaign had grown organically through campaign-related supporter sign ups. > > In any case, this led to problems. > > At least one of the bulk email platforms Trump’s campaign was using to send between 50 and 60 million emails moved rapidly to suspend his access because the “email in question has raised serious security and legal concerns among Adestra and other industry leaders.” Leave to Trump to not discourage racists, bigots and antisemites in his mist, but to also welcome spammers? Ye gods! Release the Kraken! Pandora’s mailbox has to be protected! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7bcc69/32.png) [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2379 "2016-07-11T03:56:08Z")
I have a mailing list for my blog. 79% is incredibly high for an opt-in mailing list. I’d get kicked out so fast I wouldn’t know what hit me. That must be bad even by spammer standards, but that is outside my area of expertise. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2380 "2016-07-11T04:25:40Z")
> [@Mighty\_Girl](#): > > I have a mailing list for my blog. 79% is incredibly high for an opt-in mailing list. I’d get kicked out so fast I wouldn’t know what hit me. > > That must be bad even by spammer standards, but that is outside my area of expertise. There’s spam and then there’s spam. The “Penis So Big It Scares Nigerian Princes With Hot Barely Legal Offshore Herbal Bank Accounts” spam, the clearly criminal stuff which absolutely everyone filters for, is probably going into spamtraps 99+% of the time, because the big free email providers filter it. (Cite: I actually look through my Gmail Spam folder. It isn’t there. It’s getting stopped before it even reaches me, because it damned sure still exists.) That crap’s being sent by criminal cartels from Third-World Internet cafes and compromised machines in the Free World. Whole sections of the global Internet (China, mostly) are blocked by ISPs around the rest of the (non-China) world because of this kind of spam and malware botnets scanning for vulnerable computers to turn into spambots. The “Buy Gold Special Deal 4 U” spam, the stuff which is probably “barely legal” in the business law sense of the term, is more likely to make it through. A 79% spamtrap rate might actually be bad for them, I don’t know. Anyway, this is Trump being Trump and cheaping out on an essential part of the process. He puts 90% into the show and 10% into the backroom, where it should be the exact opposite. Even Vegas knows better than that, which must be why his casinos tend to fail. He’s all sizzle and no steak, and the best part is that the sizzle is actively racist, misogynistic, and otherwise blatantly offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2016, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/2381 "2016-07-11T06:21:50Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Republicans don’t want disagreement. They want total capitulation or they want a fight. Our only hope is to shove them out of power long enough for them to figure out that that isn’t how it works. What do you expect from a party whose supporters seriously argued that keeping the other party from doing literally ANYTHING except at the price of “doing what we want” was “compromise”? Because see, they’re compromising by letting any action happen to begin with! It’s those evil Democrats who are being stubborn! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=118) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=120)