# 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:** 201
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4003 "2016-08-10T04:42:25Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > If people on this board really spent time with a broad collection of people they’d realize it’s not very long. Think of the average poster’s social and professional circles. You think those are truly representative of the populace? I have worked on the phones for about 30 years. I think I’ve dealt with a fairly representative cross section of the public. I’m not who you are talking about here. I still say 90 days is an extreme exaggeration of the human memory for things deemed important which I’d assume these issues would be if a person is going to bother to vote. If voting was mandatory I’d be more willing to lower my estimates on this. It seems to me that the mythical low attention span voter is a myth used to explain a phenomenon that the experts can’t explain too well. Also, if this is true, why the 24 year hate of Hillary Clinton? That wasn’t forgotten in all this time. It’s been 4 years since she was in the administration and no one has forgotten what she did there. Do voters only forget certain things they’d rather not deal with? ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4004 "2016-08-10T04:45:53Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > I have worked on the phones for about 30 years. I think I’ve dealt with a fairly representative cross section of the public. I’m not who you are talking about here. > > I still say 90 days is an extreme exaggeration of the human memory for things deemed important which I’d assume these issues would be if a person is going to bother to vote. > > If voting was mandatory I’d be more willing to lower my estimates on this. It seems to me that the mythical low attention span voter is a myth used to explain a phenomenon that the experts can’t explain too well. > > Also, if this is true, why the 24 year hate of Hillary Clinton? That wasn’t forgotten in all this time. It’s been 4 years since she was in the administration and no one has forgotten what she did there. Do voters only forget certain things they’d rather not deal with? Why do you think Trump/Trump flunkies and GOP bring it up every day? ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4005 "2016-08-10T04:52:25Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > I have worked on the phones for about 30 years. I think I’ve dealt with a fairly representative cross section of the public. I’m not who you are talking about here. > > I still say 90 days is an extreme exaggeration of the human memory for things deemed important which I’d assume these issues would be if a person is going to bother to vote. > > If voting was mandatory I’d be more willing to lower my estimates on this. It seems to me that the mythical low attention span voter is a myth used to explain a phenomenon that the experts can’t explain too well. > > Also, if this is true, why the 24 year hate of Hillary Clinton? That wasn’t forgotten in all this time. It’s been 4 years since she was in the administration and no one has forgotten what she did there. Do voters only forget certain things they’d rather not deal with? You raise a lot of good points. Some of which are answered by the presence of echo chambers. But I’m not surprised by the rise of Trump. People like excitement. We may have enough mature people in this country to prevent a Trump presidency this year. ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4006 "2016-08-10T05:31:10Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Why do you think Trump/Trump flunkies and GOP bring it up every day? I’ll concede the point. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4007 "2016-08-10T05:35:08Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > You raise a lot of good points. Some of which are answered by the presence of echo chambers. > > But I’m not surprised by the rise of Trump. People like excitement. We may have enough mature people in this country to prevent a Trump presidency this year. That’s where I started but over the last year my opinion of people has started to drop. I do think ( hope ) that the mature people are starting to make this happen. Either that or even the immature folks just aren’t that immature. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4008 "2016-08-10T07:48:57Z")
“[He] represents that dark, venal and incurably violent side of the American character… He speaks for the werewolf in us; the bully, the predatory shyster who turns into something unspeakable, full of claws and bleeding string-warts on nights when the moon comes too close…” ~~Hunter S. Thompson, upon the resignation of Richard Nixon. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4009 "2016-08-10T08:47:38Z")
> [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](#): > > Also, if this is true, why the 24 year hate of Hillary Clinton? That wasn’t forgotten in all this time. It’s been 4 years since she was in the administration and no one has forgotten what she did there. Do voters only forget certain things they’d rather not deal with? Not sure you picked the best example there. Check out [this graph](http://www.gallup.com/poll/185324/hillary-clinton-favorable-rating-one-worst.aspx) of her approval ratings over that 24 years. “Wildly fluctuating” would be a fair description. Some of the troughs and peaks in her Gallup favorability rating during that time: 1992: 38% 1994: 62% 1996: 43% 1999: 67% 2001: 44% 2004: 56% 2007: 58% 2008: 48% 2009: 65% 2012: 66% The latest Gallup number from this week is 39%. Her lowest point was in July, 37%. But there have been _three different times_ that she bounced back from ratings in the 40s or 30s to ratings well into the 60s, plus _another time_ that she just missed (2007, at 58%). And it was only four years ago that she enjoyed one of her highest ratings (66%). I’m not sure if there has ever been another case like this with a universally known public figure, but she’s definitely not the example to use to show that voters aren’t fickle in their opinions about people. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4010 "2016-08-10T14:38:17Z")
I don’t think it will be a matter of a last straw breaking the camel’s back, but each new fuckup will add another piece to the narrative that Clinton and her surrogates are building about Trump: that he is temperamentally unfit to be president. The GOP will never abandon him en masse, but each new incident will prompt another defection or two, and encourage a few more voters to conclude they have better things to do on November 8 than punch a ballot. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4011 "2016-08-10T16:16:56Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Nope.](http://www.factcheck.org/2008/02/leftover-campaign-funds/) > > Full, detailed answer at the link. you are right, but I plea that I am so old that most of my life was spent before the Ethics Reform Act of 1989. Yes, I suspect he will continue to spend the raised funds on paying yuge fees for the use of his properties. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4012 "2016-08-10T16:18:12Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I don’t think it will be a matter of a last straw breaking the camel’s back, but each new fuckup will add another piece to the narrative that Clinton and her surrogates are building about Trump: that he is temperamentally unfit to be president. Face facts. Clinton isn’t building the narrative about Trump being temperamentally unfit; Trump’s doing that. Clinton’s just happily riding along with it. I read a Tweet the other day that summed up this election (sorry, I can’t remember who wrote it). If the election was about Clinton, Trump would win. If the election was about Trump, Clinton would win. Both candidates agree they want the election to be about Trump. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4013 "2016-08-10T16:20:24Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > [“When I Was A Lad”, by Donald Trump, after Gilbert and Sullivan](https://www.balloon-juice.com/2016/08/09/when-trump-was-a-lad/) (or, if you’re a Republican, Gilbert O’Sullivan)… Wonderful - thanks for that! > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > I hope so, and don’t call me Surly. Well, then, can I call you a cab? OK, you’re a cab. > [@jsc1953](#): > > And in Trump campaign headquarters, the sign on the wall that says: > > “\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ GAFFE-FREE HOURS” > > just got re-set to zero. I hope somebody got a picture of it sometime during those six minutes or so. > [@Catamount](#): > > And with that, the Republicans just lost the entire American Indian vote. Oklahoma will be the next state to turn blue. I wish, but not a freakin’ chance. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4014 "2016-08-10T16:37:23Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > If that was his concern do you think he would say this? > [https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/13/trump-just-boasted-that-he-pays-as-little-in-taxes-as-possible-no-really/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/05/13/trump-just-boasted-that-he-pays-as-little-in-taxes-as-possible-no-really/) Mostly, because he’s [a walking contradiction in terms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSE-XoVKaXg). (link goes to youtube) ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4015 "2016-08-10T21:52:15Z")
Politico: [100 Days of Donald Trump: What would a Trump presidency look like? A 100-day POLITICO investigation.](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/donald-trump-100-days-226850) > [@](#): > > What also emerges from this 100-day review is a Trump outlook less tethered to the traditional left-right ideological spectrum and more to his binary view of winners and losers, the weak and the strong. He praises foreign strongmen like Saddam Hussein and Vladimir Putin, and casts as weak his political opponents. It’s one of the reasons Trump seems never to back down, no matter the cost to himself, dragging out controversies around a judge’s ethnic heritage (Days 32-36), the use of a Jewish star atop a pile of money (Days 61-65), and his feud with the Muslim-American family of a fallen U.S. soldier (Days 87-92). > > Those three episodes alone consumed 15 percent of his days. > > But as much news as Trump made, much of Trump’s 100 days is a tale of time squandered: the three weeks before holding his first fundraiser, the 39 days before a swing-state tour, the 50 days before his first email solicitation for money. “Usually campaigns don’t even start until September,” said Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman, on Day 94. Trump has still not aired a general election ad. ---
**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:** [August 10, 2016, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4016 "2016-08-10T22:07:35Z")
> [@DiggitCamara](#): > > Mostly, because he’s [a walking contradiction in terms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSE-XoVKaXg). (link goes to youtube) It’s not the same thing as a flip flop which I didn’t really need a video compilation for. He’s clearly not embarrassed about paying low taxes so he’s not releasing his returns for another reason. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4017 "2016-08-10T23:35:02Z")
[The man said ‘titties’ on live national television](https://twitter.com/nedostup/status/762733312095973376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw). There’s absolutely no getting around this one. ---
**Author:** ![AtomThought](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@AtomThought](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomThought)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4018 "2016-08-10T23:48:08Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > [The man said ‘titties’ on live national television](https://twitter.com/nedostup/status/762733312095973376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw). There’s absolutely no getting around this one. Huh. I thought I’d misheard that, or it was some sort of audio glitch or something. It looks like Ol’ Dime-store Donnie’s the one short-circuiting now. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4019 "2016-08-11T01:48:23Z")
Oh, this is too good. At a rally in Florida tonight, Trump starts criticizing Clinton because at one of her rallies recently the father of the Orlando nightclub shooter was sitting in the stands just behind Hillary. Trump then says when you’re giving a rally you should know who you put in the stands behind you. He gestures back to the people behind him and says they got those seats because they know him. One of those people sitting behind Trump: Mark Foley, former Republican congressman who resigned in disgrace amidst allegations that he sent sexually explicit emails and instant messages to teenage boys working as congressional pages. > **[Disgraced ex-congressman sits behind Trump at rally | CNN Politics](https://www.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/donald-trump-mark-foley-campaign-rally/)** > > Donald Trump on Wednesday again slammed Hillary Clinton and her campaign for allowing the father of Orlando shooter Omar Mateen to sit in the stands behind her at a recent rally. ---
**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:** [August 11, 2016, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4020 "2016-08-11T02:17:02Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > Oh, this is too good. > > At a rally in Florida tonight, Trump starts criticizing Clinton because at one of her rallies recently the father of the Orlando nightclub shooter was sitting in the stands just behind Hillary. Trump then says when you’re giving a rally you should know who you put in the stands behind you. He gestures back to the people behind him and says they got those seats because they know him. > > One of those people sitting behind Trump: Mark Foley, former Republican congressman who resigned in disgrace amidst allegations that he sent sexually explicit emails and instant messages to teenage boys working as congressional pages. > > [http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/donald-trump-mark-foley-campaign-rally/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/donald-trump-mark-foley-campaign-rally/) See? Trump and NAMBLA. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4021 "2016-08-11T02:23:51Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > See? Trump and NAMBLA. I’ve heard people saying that having the pedophile Mark Foley in the audience was because Trump was wanting to show his support for NAMBLA. Maybe this goes along with Trumps major funding for NAMBLA? Who knows? All I know is that Top People are discussing it. You tell me what’s going on here. ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4022 "2016-08-11T02:46:50Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > If the election was about Clinton, Trump would win. > If the election was about Trump, Clinton would win. > Both candidates agree they want the election to be about Trump. This is so beautiful, because it is so true. > [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > [The man said ‘titties’ on live national television](https://twitter.com/nedostup/status/762733312095973376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw). There’s absolutely no getting around this one. Oh lord, was he talking about Ivanka \* again\*? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=200) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=202)