# 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:** 17
**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, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/321 "2016-05-12T21:18:33Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Yes, this is precisely what I meant (so why did you start with “However…”?). Because the immigration-quota system predated Operation Wetback by three decades. ---
**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, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/322 "2016-05-12T21:47:30Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Jon Chait, my favorite political writer, cuts right to the heart of the _real_ reason why the nees media and pundits everywhere were taken by surprise that Trump actually won the nomination: [Here’s the Real Reason Everybody Thought Trump Would Lose](http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/05/heres-the-real-reason-we-all-underrated-trump.html) Amanda Marcotte disagrees with Chait: [The Trumpies aren’t dumb, they’re bigots who are successfully sticking it the Establishment.](http://www.salon.com/2016/05/12/jonathan_chait_is_wrong_trump_supporters_arent_stupid_theyre_mostly_racists_who_are_successfully_sticking_it_to_the_establishment/) ---
**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, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/323 "2016-05-12T21:48:00Z")
It is a fact that nearly every civil right was originally advanced by liberals and opposed by conservatives. I’m sorrynotsorry if that hurts your feelings. ---
**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, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/324 "2016-05-12T21:51:34Z")
It is just an undeniable fact that on a whole host of issues, liberals advocated for greater civil rights and conservatives opposed them, and now most of those rights are just considered basic decency. You can do the math from there. Sorrynotsorry. ---
**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, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/325 "2016-05-12T21:55:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Because the immigration-quota system predated Operation Wetback by three decades. Sure, but I said “draconian policies _including_ Operation Wetback”. I don’t think you can read my post as meaning there were all kinds of legal immigrants flooding into the country until that operation cleared them all out. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/326 "2016-05-12T22:15:39Z")
The surprise at the unexpected rise of a Trump is an indictment on the people who held a fantastical ideal of “the people” which should have been dispelled long ago. And if the left thinks they are immune to a Trump have not paid attention to some interesting left wing politicians. ---
**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, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/327 "2016-05-12T22:35:12Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It is a fact that nearly every civil right was originally advanced by liberals and opposed by conservatives. Same with drugs, revolving door jails and schools graduating students who can’t read or write. ---
**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, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/328 "2016-05-12T23:10:57Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > The surprise at the unexpected rise of a Trump is an indictment on the people who held a fantastical ideal of “the people” which should have been dispelled long ago. It is an indictment that they may have overestimated “the people”? I don’t think anyone was ever oblivious to the existence of bigoted idiots in our society; they have only been surprised at the numbers and the stubborn ferocity of such in this day and age. But, there still ain’t enough of 'em to make up a winning coalition in November, knock particle-board. This ain’t 1972, and the Silent Majority have shrunk to a noisy minority. > [@octopus](#): > > And if the left thinks they are immune to a Trump have not paid attention to some interesting left wing politicians. No leftie who has gotten so far as to be even a halfway plausible presidential contender in the last 50 years – no, not Ralph Nader, not Dennis Kucinich, not even Al Sharpton – is in any way analogous to a clueless contentless windbag like Trump. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/329 "2016-05-12T23:39:19Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 1. 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. In the news today is an article from [_Mother Jones_](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/trump-butler-anthony-senecal-facebook-kill-obama) concerning one Anthony Senecal, Mr. Trump’s long-time butler, now retired but who continues to reside at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as official 'Historian". What got Mr. Senecal in the news was a series of Facebook postings in which, another things, he has repeatedly called for the killing of President Obama. A bit of the flavor of his posting can be seen below: [Quote=Anthonly Senecal, via Mother Jones] To all my friends on FB, just a short note to you on our pus headed “president” !!! This character who I refer to as zero (0) should have been taken out by our military and shot as an enemy agent in his first term !!! Instead he still remains in office doing every thing he can to gut the America we all know and love !!! Now comes Donald J Trump to put an end to the corruption in government !!! The so called elite, who are nothing but common dog turds from your front lawn are shaking in their boots because there is a new Sheriff coming to town, and the end to their corruption of the American people (YOU) is at hand !!! I cannot believe that a common murder is even allowed to run (killery clinton) OR that a commie like bernie is a also allowed to also run !!! Come on America put your big boy pants on—this election you have a choice—GET YOUR ASS OUT AND VOTE !!! Thank you !!! [/Quote] OK, forget about the content for a moment; when the number of exclamation points approaches the number of words in a post, we could be forgiven for thinking _that_ person a nutbar, right? ---
**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 13, 2016, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/330 "2016-05-13T00:14:47Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > 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. As her brothers say, she is also the one in the family who’s most like Trump himself. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/331 "2016-05-13T00:21:05Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > It is a fact that nearly every civil right was originally advanced by liberals and opposed by conservatives. I’m sorrynotsorry if that hurts your feelings. If you define civil right as a right affecting one group, then sure. It’s the right that defends our original civil rights, as reflected in the Bill of Rights, and liberals who are assaulting them. ---
**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 13, 2016, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/332 "2016-05-13T00:21:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > 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. Let’s not pretend that that attitude isn’t rife on the other side of the aisle, either. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/333 "2016-05-13T00:25:22Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > If you define civil right as a right affecting one group, then sure. It’s the right that defends our original civil rights, as reflected in the Bill of Rights, and liberals who are assaulting them. Uh, in English this time? :dubious: ---
**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 13, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/334 "2016-05-13T00:25:27Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > In the news today is an article from [_Mother Jones_](http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/trump-butler-anthony-senecal-facebook-kill-obama) concerning one Anthony Senecal, Mr. Trump’s long-time butler, now retired but who continues to reside at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as official 'Historian". What got Mr. Senecal in the news was a series of Facebook postings in which, another things, he has repeatedly called for the killing of President Obama. A bit of the flavor of his posting can be seen below: > > (quotes) > > OK, forget about the content for a moment; when the number of exclamation points approaches the number of words in a post, we could be forgiven for thinking _that_ person a nutbar, right? And if you had any further question as to his ignorance, CNN reports that he calls Obama’s abode The White Mosque. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/335 "2016-05-13T00:26:30Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Same with drugs, revolving door jails and schools graduating students who can’t read or write. Please point out the _specific_ legislation that led to each of these and cite the politicians who advocated them. ---
**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 13, 2016, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/336 "2016-05-13T00:26:32Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > Uh, in English this time? :dubious: Took me a minute, but I think he’s referring to the 2nd Amendment. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/337 "2016-05-13T00:27:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Took me a minute, but I think he’s referring to the 2nd Amendment. I suppose… :rolleyes: ---
**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 13, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/338 "2016-05-13T00:27:58Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > OK, forget about the content for a moment; when the number of exclamation points approaches the number of words in a post, we could be forgiven for thinking _that_ person a nutbar, right? Certainly. But what that has to do with anything is anyone’s guess. Both sides have their nutbars. Our side has nutbars like Trump’s ex-butler, and your side has nutbars like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/339 "2016-05-13T00:30:34Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Certainly. But what that has to do with anything is anyone’s guess. Both sides have their nutbars. Our side has nutbars like Trump’s ex-butler, and your side has nutbars like Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. 😃 Don’t remember DW-S advocating shooting President George W. Bush. Got a cite for that? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2016, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/340 "2016-05-13T00:35:41Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Took me a minute, but I think he’s referring to the 2nd Amendment. The 1st is actually under a more concerted assault these days, but yes, the 2nd, but also the 10th, which liberals have always disdained, but also the continuing assault on due process that the regulatory state represents. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=18)