# 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:** 176
**Author:** ![ganthet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de0a6/32.png) [@ganthet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ganthet)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3503 "2016-08-03T03:35:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Is Blitzer that ignorant…or does he just not give a shit any more as long as he gets face time on air? He [corrected](https://twitter.com/CNNSitRoom/status/760651965172899840) her only _after_ the interview ended. Also, just to further illuminate the ignorance of the claim, typically ROEs are written by the Operations staff section (J-3) of a combatant command overseeing a particular operation and approved by the commander of that combatant command (a four star general officer). In the case of Operation Iraqi Freedom, that would be J-3 shop of the U.S. Central Command. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3504 "2016-08-03T04:36:37Z")
Not sure if it’s already been mentioned, but Meg Whitman has come out in support of Clinton and has said she will fund raise for her. Whitman ran for governor of California as a Republican and has been a fundraiser for Republican candidates. Even though she said she disagrees with Clinton on many issues, she said Clinton is still preferable to Trump. Whitman plans to personally donate an amount in the “mid six figures” to help Clinton get elected. > **[Meg Whitman, Calling Donald Trump a ‘Demagogue,’ Will Support Hillary Clinton...](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/03/us/politics/meg-whitman-hillary-clinton.html?_r=0&referer=http:%2F%2Ftheweek.com%2Fspeedreads%2F640622%2Fmeg-whitman-calls-trump-dangerous-demagogue-says-voting-clinton)** > > The Hewlett Packard chief and Republican fund-raiser said Mrs. Clinton had reached out to her about a month ago, one of the first indications that the Democratic nominee is courting Republican leaders. ---
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3505 "2016-08-03T06:28:12Z")
Trump seems to be getting crazier and more erratic even by his standards. I think the reality that he will probably lose is finally breaking through and he is lashing out. I find it difficult to believe he can continue like this for three months. I seriously wonder whether he might just drop out at some point. What would happen in that case? Would Pence become the nominee or are they stuck with Trump-Pence? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3506 "2016-08-03T06:40:38Z")
Anyone know the projected numbers of sane Republicans: - not voting - voting democrat -voting independent? ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3507 "2016-08-03T06:44:22Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > So the Secretary of State, not of Defense, is responsible for the rules of engagement? Ignoring all the confused responses, they are blaming the death on Hillary because she voted for the war (and I know that isn’t totally true) not because she was running things. Trump didn’t vote for the war so he was better. All you people are way too sane to understand Trump spokespeople these days. That moron Lord on CNN, the Trump shill, when asked about Trump claiming that Putin would never invade the Ukraine (when he already did) started talking about Benghazi. Some day some news anchor is going to get fed up and punch the lights out of one of these nitwits. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3508 "2016-08-03T06:45:09Z")
> [@Lantern](#): > > Trump seems to be getting crazier and more erratic even by his standards. I think the reality that he will probably lose is finally breaking through and he is lashing out. I find it difficult to believe he can continue like this for three months. I seriously wonder whether he might just drop out at some point. What would happen in that case? Would Pence become the nominee or are they stuck with Trump-Pence? I think the party leaders can convene and figure it out among themselves. In addition to this scenario, what if he just keeps going and gets more unhinged with each day. Is there a mechanism in place for the party to say, “Yeah Donny, we’re done. Pack it up and go home, Kasich/Rubio/Cruz is taking over.” ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3509 "2016-08-03T06:45:16Z")
> [@AngelSoft](#): > > You know, I was really curious how the super Trump supporters were spinning all this garbage going on. So I went to a few conservative/Trump groups my dad follows on Facebook and they’re not even mentioning it. I don’t know why I was surprised but literally not a word about anything he’s said or done that’s been in the news. It’s all about how awful Hillary is and how awesome Trump is. I mean, I understand sticking your head in the sand but this is ridiculous. I looked at four or five of them and they all were doing the same thing. It’s shit like this that makes me worry he’ll actually get elected. This is really important to realize. Where do these people get their info? Their social media bubble and - maybe- FOX, right? Their news world could not be more different then from the posters in this thread. Trump may be firing them up to vote in much larger numbers the usual. It would work. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3510 "2016-08-03T07:28:16Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Is there a mechanism in place for the party to say, “Yeah Donny, we’re done. Pack it up and go home, Kasich/Rubio/Cruz is taking over.” No. There’s no mechanism they can use to force him to drop out. Even if we stipulate that it would be legal, and I’m not convinced of that, it simply has never been done. Even if there were, using it would be signing their party’s death warrant: They’d be saying that the expressed will of their voting base is irrelevant, and that they’ll resort to blatantly undemocratic methods to subvert the process if things don’t go their way. We went through this in the run-up to the convention. Denying him the nomination was a bad idea then, stealing it from him now that he has it is an even worse idea now. ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3511 "2016-08-03T07:40:40Z")
We get the government we deserve. Or deserve the government we get. Or something like that… [Only 9% of America Chose Trump and Clinton as the Nominees](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/08/01/us/elections/nine-percent-of-america-selected-trump-and-clinton.html) (A little misleading because why include the people who can’t vote. But still…) ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3512 "2016-08-03T07:44:19Z")
What about the “Star Trek” remedy of him having to pull out of the race because he’s unfit for command? As in psychologically? You know…Picard starts acting weird, and Riker and the red-headed doctor have him removed from the big chair until he’s better, with about ten minutes left in the episode? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3513 "2016-08-03T07:47:12Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > This is really important to realize. Where do these people get their info? Their social media bubble and - maybe- FOX, right? Their news world could not be more different then from the posters in this thread. Trump may be firing them up to vote in much larger numbers the usual. It would work. I’m sure they are aware of the headlines he makes, but what candidates say doesn’t really tell you much about them. If an unfaithful congenital liar can make a great President, then a racist asshole can also make a great President. And we’ve had both types as Presidents and some of them have been treated very well by history. I don’t agree with this view, because Trump’s randomness doesn’t suggest that he speaks his mind(McCain did that, Biden does that, and they don’t sound unhinged), it suggests that he’s not mentally or emotionally stable enough to be President. And as far as I know, instability has not generally been a trait we’ve had in Presidents, except for maybe Nixon, and only late in his career did it become a problem for him. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3514 "2016-08-03T07:53:01Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > No. > > There’s no mechanism they can use to force him to drop out. Even if we stipulate that it would be legal, and I’m not convinced of that, it simply has never been done. Well one way it could be done in theory is by a court declaring him mentally incompetent against his will. There’s plenty of evidence for him having Narcissistic Personality Disorder, in this article a clinical Psychologist says that Trump is such a text book case that he uses clips of Trump when demonstrating the disorder in workshops. > **[A neuroscientist explains: Trump has a mental disorder that makes him a...](https://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/a-neuroscientist-explains-trump-has-a-mental-disorder-that-makes-him-a-dangerous-world-leader/)** > > What do Muammar Gaddafi, Napoleon Bonaparte, Saddam Hussein and Donald Trump have in common? A lot, actually. It would be a hell of a shitfight, but it is technically possible. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2016, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3515 "2016-08-03T08:04:48Z")
If the GOP leadership repudiated Trump en masse, tried to un-nominate him, etc. I still don’t see him actually dropping out of the race. More likely he’d declare that the Republicans are all a bunch of losers trying to rig the system against him, and that he’s declaring himself the candidate of the Trump Party, and that anyone who doesn’t fall in line with him is going to be sorry when he gets elected. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3516 "2016-08-03T08:15:43Z")
> [@coremelt](#): > > Well one way it could be done in theory is by a court declaring him mentally incompetent against his will. There’s plenty of evidence for him having Narcissistic Personality Disorder, in this article a clinical Psychologist says that Trump is such a text book case that he uses clips of Trump when demonstrating the disorder in workshops. > > [A neuroscientist explains: Trump has a mental disorder that makes him a dangerous world leader - Raw Story](http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/a-neuroscientist-explains-trump-has-a-mental-disorder-that-makes-him-a-dangerous-world-leader/) > > It would be a hell of a shitfight, but it is technically possible. I don’t dispute what you’re saying, and I even agree with the diagnosis to the extent I can, but I will say that such an action by a court would be dangerously close to the court deciding a “[political question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_question)”, and courts are extremely wary of even attempting to decide such things, seeing as how it would amount to the Judicial branch nosing into the affairs of another branch of government—in this case, the Executive branch. ---
**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 3, 2016, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3517 "2016-08-03T10:11:56Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > [Harrisburg, PA is not happy with Trump calling them a “war zone”.](http://www.mcall.com/news/local/elections/mc-pa-trump-harrisburg-war-zone-20160802-story.html) I’ll admit Harrisburg is a bit on the dull side, but a war zone it ain’t. ---
**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 3, 2016, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3518 "2016-08-03T10:29:49Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I don’t dispute what you’re saying, and I even agree with the diagnosis to the extent I can, but I will say that such an action by a court would be dangerously close to the court deciding a “[political question](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_question)”, and courts are extremely wary of even attempting to decide such things, seeing as how it would amount to the Judicial branch nosing into the affairs of another branch of government—in this case, the Executive branch. Like Bush v. Gore? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3519 "2016-08-03T12:33:10Z")
Just a wild thought I had recently, but how valuable would it be for Trump, who’s been running a lot of pretty shady businesses, to grant himself (and anybody else he wants) a full pardon for any and all past crimes? I’ve even read that it would be theoretically possible for a president to pardon a corporation for any criminal acts that it may have committed. It’s kind of a wild comic book supervillain plan, but Trump is kind of a comic book character to begin with. ---
**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:** [August 3, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3520 "2016-08-03T13:01:11Z")
Joe Scarborough [claims](http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/joe-scarborough-trump-briefing-nuclear-weapons) that in a briefing with a foreign policy expert, Trump asked three times why the US can’t use nuclear weapons. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3521 "2016-08-03T13:01:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > More likely he’d declare that the Republicans are all a bunch of losers trying to rig the system against him, and that he’s declaring himself the candidate of the Trump Party… He’d love that so much I would be unsurprised to learn this was part of this plan. [QUOTE=Johnny Bravo] I’ve even read that it would be theoretically possible for a president to pardon a corporation for any criminal acts that it may have committed. [/QUOTE] Generalizing here, but; corporations cannot commit, or be pardoned for, crimes; they can commit torts, subject to civil action. If a crime is committed, there is a natural person - e.g. a real human being - somewhere who is liable for it and can be charged. In the U.S. specifically, the President may grant “reprieves and pardons” for _federal_ crimes. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/3522 "2016-08-03T13:09:51Z")
I was under the impression that corporations can in fact be charged with crimes, since they are legal persons. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=175) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=177)