# 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:** 16
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/301 "2016-05-12T15:51:10Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > [Trump] has no policies planned to deal with the “woman problem”. Considering he has no policy plans for anything, that kind of goes without saying. ---
**Author:** ![ATLHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/94ad74/32.png) [@ATLHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ATLHawk)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/302 "2016-05-12T15:52:47Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > He is nothing less than the greatest threat to the nation since Jefferson Davis. Surprised you didn’t go with the \*de facto \* Hitler comparison. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/303 "2016-05-12T15:59:16Z")
> [@ATLHawk](#): > > Surprised you didn’t go with the \*de facto \* Hitler comparison. You probably meant _de rigueur_? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/304 "2016-05-12T16:26:03Z")
> [@ATLHawk](#): > > Surprised you didn’t go with the \*de facto \* Hitler comparison. Davis was a bigger threat than Hitler ever was. Hitler had no means to subjugate the US, Davis tried to split it in two and actually did so for four years. Trump would have the ability to appoint Supreme Court justices who would undo the last 60 years of progress in civil rights and worker rights. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/305 "2016-05-12T16:43:54Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > You probably meant _de rigueur_? _de trop_, but not by much. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/306 "2016-05-12T16:54:11Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > _de trop_, but not by much. If we’re working with French phrases here, _bête noire_ needs to fit in somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/307 "2016-05-12T16:55:12Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Trump’s gender resentment is personal. He has no policies planned to deal with the “woman problem”. Nor are his supporters motivated by sexism. They just look past his sexism. Nativism is the primary driver of Trump’s support, as well as disgust with the political class. Is this why he said his daughter will take care of the family business after he becomes President? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/308 "2016-05-12T17:01:46Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The troops also like Trump best by a wide margin. I refer you to the old saw about ‘military intelligence.’ ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/309 "2016-05-12T17:05:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > The troops also like Trump best by a wide margin. Who cares? What insight do they have? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/310 "2016-05-12T17:05:30Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > Is this why he said his daughter will take care of the family business after he becomes President? Right. Because no sexist has ever loved his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![truthSeeker2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7cd45c/32.png) [@truthSeeker2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthSeeker2)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/311 "2016-05-12T17:27:45Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Right. Because no sexist has ever loved his daughter. sexists prefer their daughters over sons for taking care of family business? ---
**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:** [May 12, 2016, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/312 "2016-05-12T17:43:58Z")
Of course sexism is in the mix as well. It’s pretty easy to unpack his promise to “make America great again”, combined with his repeated complaints about “political correctness” and this latest bit about how women have gained some unfair advantage over men. It is, just as that GOP operative with the Southern drawl said on NPR, about wanting to “go back to 1956”. That’s the approximate time, when Drumpf was coming of age, that America was “great”. White males were at their ascendancy, dames knew their place, as did “colored people”, and there weren’t many immigrants around thanks to draconian policies including Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” program to round up Hispanics and deport them (or shoot them at the border), [about which Drumpf spoke approvingly](http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/11/gop-debate-donald-trump-explains-his-deportation-plan-will-be-just-operation-wetback) at one of the debates. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > My point was that to the left there’s no rational reason for anyone to vote Republican, therefore those who do must be crackpots of some kind. Then how do you explain all the prominent _Republicans_, including the last three presidential nominees and the Speaker of the House, who are not supporting him? > [@BobLibDem](#): > > Think Trump gives a rat’s ass about preserving Social Security? His serious proposal is to save it by eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. Seriously. Yeah, that was another facepalm. Drumpf has repeatedly used phrasing like this (or “America First”, or “I love the Hispanics”) that people in the know find risible. But the beauty of it for Drumpf is that the rubes who like him don’t know that “waste, fraud, and abuse” is a longtime Washington punchline. They can nod and be all “hmm, yeah, that does seem like a good place to go to get all the money we need to save the system”. :smack: > [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Considering he has no policy plans for anything, that kind of goes without saying. LOL, good point. > [@DSeid](#): > > **BobLibDem** , FWIW I’ve come to believe that Trump does not represent (or appeal to) anger, or even fear, as the prime emotion at all, but _resentment_ without the baggage of anything else. > > (Of course I feel that is also the prime motivation behind some of Sanders’ support as well.) I think you’re on to something there. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/313 "2016-05-12T18:14:45Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Of course sexism is in the mix as well. It’s pretty easy to unpack his promise to “make America great again”, combined with his repeated complaints about “political correctness” and this latest bit about how women have gained some unfair advantage over men. It is, just as that GOP operative with the Southern drawl said on NPR, about wanting to “go back to 1956”. That’s the approximate time, when Drumpf was coming of age, that America was “great”. White males were at their ascendancy, dames knew their place, as did “colored people”, and there weren’t many immigrants around thanks to draconian policies including Eisenhower’s “Operation Wetback” program to round up Hispanics and deport them (or shoot them at the border), [about which Drumpf spoke approvingly](http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/11/gop-debate-donald-trump-explains-his-deportation-plan-will-be-just-operation-wetback) at one of the debates. However, the main reason there were few immigrants around was the national-origins-quota system embodied in the [Immigration Act of 1924](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924), the explicit purpose of which at the time was to preserve America’s character as a white man’s country, defining “white” as “Northwestern European.” This system was repealed by the [Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Act_of_1965), since when America has received millions of immigrants from parts of the world most Americans were barely aware of in 1965, as well as from Mexico and LA of which they were always aware. It is in that sense, I think, that so many Pubs, RWs and Trumpies want to go “back to the '50s” – to the time before that happened. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/314 "2016-05-12T18:34:46Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > sexists prefer their daughters over sons for taking care of family business? Only the ones they want to sleep with. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/315 "2016-05-12T19:58:47Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > However, the main reason there were few immigrants around was the national-origins-quota system embodied in the [Immigration Act of 1924](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_Act_of_1924), the explicit purpose of which at the time was to preserve America’s character as a white man’s country, defining “white” as “Northwestern European.” This system was repealed by the [Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immigration_and_Nationality_Act_of_1965), since when America has received millions of immigrants from parts of the world most Americans were barely aware of in 1965, as well as from Mexico and LA of which they were always aware. > > It is in that sense, I think, that so many Pubs, RWs and Trumpies want to go “back to the '50s” – to the time before that happened. Yes, this is precisely what I meant (so why did you start with “However…”?). I believe that as a result of the policies you’re talking about, the late 1950s was the period in time with the fewest immigrants and non-English speakers in the population in all of American history. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/316 "2016-05-12T20:04:43Z")
> [@truthSeeker2](#): > > sexists prefer their daughters over sons for taking care of family business? Sexists don’t necessarily hate all women, or think all women are inferior – they might hate most women, or think most women are inferior, but they carve out exceptions for their daughters or other chosen women. So just like it’s possible to be a racist with a black friend (or even with a black spouse or child), it’s also possible to be a sexist who loves and advances his daughter. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/317 "2016-05-12T20:17:02Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > Sexists don’t necessarily hate all women, or think all women are inferior – they might hate most women, or think most women are inferior, but they carve out exceptions for their daughters or other chosen women. > > So just like it’s possible to be a racist with a black friend (or even with a black spouse or child), it’s also possible to be a sexist who loves and advances his daughter. Also, notice that being willing to have your daughter guide the empire you created (if we can describe The Donald’s business interests that way without laughing), is not the same thing as being willing to have your daughter _surpass_ you in wealth and power (as with men being asked how they react to a wife earning more than her husband). It’s more along the lines of _'sure, dear, you can tend my flame, glorify my memory, and carry on my work, to let my achievements live on forever_’ and that sort of thing. In other words, his idea of Ivanka taking over isn’t anything other than his usual ego trip. She will (in his imagining) be performing the worshipful function of preserving his legacy. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/318 "2016-05-12T20:31:46Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I thought it was creditable of you to finally say that you could no longer support Trump, but stuff like this just demeans your credibility again. Trump’s popularity **is** an indictment of his supporters because the man is an idiotic demagogue of appalling ineptitude and a sociopathic bigot to boot. The backlash the voters feel against the political establishment is understandable, but choosing Trump as their standard bearer is incomprehensibly stupid. > > The truth is that with different Republican candidates at different times you’ve been hearing applicable criticisms based on the evidence at hand. I actually had relatively few criticisms of McCain, for instance, until his inexplicable choice of the moose from Wasilla as his running mate. > > And then there was Romney, who actually had potential, as Republicans go, until he decided that – as Andy Borowitz so nicely put it – he had to wear a rubber chicken on his head to prove that he was crazy enough to get elected by the current Republican mainstream. The craziness manifested in things like outright rejection of the ACA despite it being both a historical conservative policy recommendation and his own policy in MA, and appointment of Paul Ryan for the VP slot, he of Ryan budget fame destined to completely decimate what little was left of progressive taxation and social policy. > > And for a variety of reasons this election cycle has led to Trump and Cruz being the front runners, and there’s really nothing more that need be said about that. It doesn’t matter that Cruz is out, at that point there was no sane choice on the Republican side. In 2012 people thought the Wasilla moose was some crazy aberration in the Republican party, in 2016 insanity is the norm. Even the nutbars in the party are rallying against Trump, and the moose itself came out of the woodwork to support this lunatic demagogue by giving a screeching speech comprised of an incomprehensible jumble of words devoid of sense or meaning. This is supposed to be a presidential election. It’s a freaking circus sideshow. Two points: 1. My primary concern is truth and honesty, and if that harms my ‘credibility’, so be it. I’ve gotten into many an argument around here over the years because of my insistence on the facts in the face of unpopular opinion. I’m still not supporting Trump for president but that doesn’t mean I think I should sit here and let all sorts of inaccurate and/or dishonest things be said about him and let them become accepted because no one who knows better will speak up. 2. In the post above you’re doing pretty much exactly what I was talking about in the post you’re responding to when I said that to the liberal mind there must always be some sort of mental deficiency involved in order for a voter to be Republican. Note your use of the words “stupid”, “rubber chicken on his head”, “moose from Wasilla”, “insanity”, “nutbars”, etc. So as I said and you just demonstrated, to you guys there’s simply no rational or right thinking way anyone can be a Republican. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/319 "2016-05-12T20:45:19Z")
Actually there is, Starving Artist. You believe in capitalism, law and order, fiscal conservatism, that’s good reasons to be with the GOP. But pandering to the Fundieloons and the xeno/homophobes and the prison-industrial complex(\*) and acting like one should be proud of being stupid will earn someone my derision. (\* don’t think you’re off the hook for this one, Dems…) ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/320 "2016-05-12T21:13:12Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Actually there is, Starving Artist. You believe in capitalism, law and order, fiscal conservatism, that’s good reasons to be with the GOP. But pandering to the Fundieloons and the xeno/homophobes and the prison-industrial complex(\*) and acting like one should be proud of being stupid will earn someone my derision. > > (\* don’t think you’re off the hook for this one, Dems…) But one never (or given your post, rarely) hears anyone on the left express such sentiments. Instead it’s almost always that conservatives are some form of evil or stupid, and the takeaway is that a person would have to be evil or stupid to be a conservative or Republican in the first place. Take for example your comment to me further up thread, “For a long time it was considered “beneath” someone respectable to be…” Any time I dare make a comment harkening back to a more respectable time I immediately get accused of wanting to see black people lynched and gays forced back into the closet. One simply can’t disagree with liberals about anything without being accused of bearing some form of deficiency as a human being. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=17)