# 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:** 207
**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 12, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4123 "2016-08-12T17:57:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > My Trump predictions: > > 1. The dollar amount being spent on Trump properties by the Trump campaign will \*skyrocket \*over Primary levels. > > 2. Trump will say something which can be construed as rescinding his “endorsement” of Paul Ryan. > > 3. There will be a gun incident at a rally. Probably have been already, but kept quiet. > > 4. There will be modifications to the debate schedule, even if one of those changes is “DJT isn’t showing up.” > > 5. Wikileaks will release something. America will yawn, as she did with the voice mails. > > 6. People are going to get sick of seeing DJT all the time. This, of course, will drive DJT even crazier. My prediction (more overarching, less specific than yours): Don will realize that he has absolutely no chance of winning. But he’s not one to shrink quietly away. He is going to gold plate this dumpster fire so he ends up with a monumental defeat on November 8. It’s going to be freaking YYUUUUUUU-- wait for it— mungus. If he’s going to lose, he’s going to go down as the most epic candidate of all time. He won’t want to merely be another Romney, or McCain, or Kerry. He’s going to want to be in the history books. He’s going to sell the movie rights. He’s going to want to be an entire college Poli Sci course to be studied for the next 12 generations. He will continue to escalate his rhetoric, he’s going to do crazier and crazier shit, hell, he may actually shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. While waggling his weiner at passersby. He is going to go all-in on the crazy. His new campaign slogan will be: Come on, America, let’s get weird. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4124 "2016-08-12T18:09:08Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And this is the _Republican_ critique of Trump. > > Sweet. What I find really encouraging is the last paragraph. The one about the Trump anchor is just the normal partisan concern that you want to win elections, not lose them. But the last paragraph is a principled rejection of Trumpism, and an argument that the party must pull back from it. Even if Trump loses, as increasingly seems likely, the Republicans are going to have to ask themselves over the next four years: “What do we really stand for?” “And how do we stop Trump II in the next round of primaries?” ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4125 "2016-08-12T18:13:14Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Not sure if this has been posted yet: Politico reports that a group of prominent Republicans is writing a letter to the RNC, urging them to cut off funding for Trump and focus funding solely on the House and vulnerable Senate seats: [Dozens of Republicans to urge RNC to cut off funds for Trump](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/republicans-urge-rnc-cut-funds-trump-226918#ixzz4H8gHl5fv) Even before I opened the link I thought, “huh, prominent? I bet most of the names will be former-some-staff-position-or other.” Yup, that’s exactly what it is. Not a household name among them. “Former” in front of almost every title. **Trump still has a chance of winning.** Not a great chance, but maybe one chance in six. Unless that changes on its own, and there’s no reason to think it will, the GOP will stand by their evil man. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4126 "2016-08-12T18:15:02Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And this is the _Republican_ critique of Trump. > > Sweet. Seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4127 "2016-08-12T18:18:41Z")
[Ann Coulter is upset that the GOP is not standing up for Trump, who is being raped by the media.](http://www.anncoulter.com/columns/2016-08-10.html)(warning, that link goes to Coulter’s website) ---
**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 12, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4128 "2016-08-12T18:32:49Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > I don’t want Assange to hack Trump’s tax returns. I want him arrested. Assange or Trump? Or both? ---
**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 12, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4129 "2016-08-12T18:36:12Z")
Here’s NBC News’s Katy Tur on the day-to-day weirdness of covering Trump: [Katy Tur Talks Covering Donald Trump's Candidacy for NBC | Marie Claire](http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a21997/donald-trump-katy-tur/) ---
**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 12, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4130 "2016-08-12T18:39:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Even before I opened the link I thought, “huh, prominent? I bet most of the names will be former-some-staff-position-or other.” > > Yup, that’s exactly what it is. Not a household name among them. “Former” in front of almost every title. > > **Trump still has a chance of winning.** Not a great chance, but maybe one chance in six. Unless that changes on its own, and there’s no reason to think it will, the GOP will stand by their evil man. What were you expecting? That people with jobs there would do this? They wouldn’t have jobs long, then. The current staffers are probably thinking the same thing, which is why Trump depending on the RNC for field offices is not a really good move. I don’t remember a similar defection in either 1964 or 1972. And these are only the ones with the guts to sign their names - but defecting is getting easier and easier. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4131 "2016-08-12T18:53:10Z")
My favourite quote from that Tur article: > [@](#): > > The number of people, places, and things he’s insulted on Twitter alone recently passed 250, according to a list compiled by the New York Times. That puts me in the strange company of Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal (Trump called him “dopey”), the state of New Jersey (“deeply troubled”), and a podium in the Oval Office (“not good”). ---
**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 12, 2016, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4132 "2016-08-12T18:56:14Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Assange or Trump? Or both? Assange ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4133 "2016-08-12T19:40:20Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > What I find really encouraging is the last paragraph. The one about the Trump anchor is just the normal partisan concern that you want to win elections, not lose them. > > But the last paragraph is a principled rejection of Trumpism, and an argument that the party must pull back from it. > > Even if Trump loses, as increasingly seems likely, the Republicans are going to have to ask themselves over the next four years: “What do we really stand for?” “And how do we stop Trump II in the next round of primaries?” In this regard, Pissed Off Republicans (kudos on that) are indistinguishable from Democrats. This is a hopeful sign for our democracy. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4134 "2016-08-12T19:46:56Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Maybe they’re hoping that the polls will finally get Trump to listen, and if not, at least they know where they stand and can finally give up. [Confronting him about the polls wouldn’t make a difference:](http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/lid-89-days-out-trump-campaign-remains-pivot-free-n628676) > [@](#): > > “I am listening to so-called experts to ease up the rhetoric, and so far, I’m liking the way I ran in the primaries better,” he said, perhaps overestimating the gentleness of his recent statements about ISIS and the Second Amendment. “I got more votes than anybody in the history of the primaries, I got 14 million votes and won most of the states. But I’m now listening to people that are telling me to be easier, to be nicer, be softer. That’s OK, and I’m doing that. Personally, I don’t know if that’s what the country wants.” In his mind his poll numbers were great during the primaries, so he should go back to what he was doing then, and he doesn’t understand why all these losers keep telling him he should change how he’s talking. I’m assuming that someone has pointed out he’ll need a lot more votes than to win the general election compared to the primaries and that 14 million won’t cut it, but he probably ignores that. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4135 "2016-08-12T20:05:12Z")
Republican strategist say that we are looking at “an extinction-level event” for the GOP. > **[‘This sh\*t's not funny': Strategist explains that Trump is causing an...](https://www.rawstory.com/2016/08/this-shts-not-funny-strategist-explains-that-trump-is-causing-an-extinction-event-for-the-gop/)** > > We're in the middle of August, but Republican panic over their presidential nominee is already setting in.Politico reports that more than 70 prominent Republicans -- including several former GOP senators and congressmen -- have written a letter... > [@](#): > > As if that weren’t enough, Republican strategist Matt Mackowiak on Thursday posted an epic tweetstorm describing the abject panic that has set in among Republicans, who now fear that they’ll suffer massive down-ballot losses if Trump stays on his current course. > > “OK, this shit’s not funny anymore,” he began. “Trump is threatening elected GOPers at all levels in places that haven’t been competitive in decades… We are looking at an extinction-level event.” Hyperbole? Maybe. Maybe not. ---
**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:** [August 12, 2016, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4136 "2016-08-12T21:15:07Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Here’s NBC News’s Katy Tur on the day-to-day weirdness of covering Trump: [Katy Tur Talks Covering Donald Trump's Candidacy for NBC | Marie Claire](http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a21997/donald-trump-katy-tur/) Trump’s turning his rally crowd on Tur–with such venom that the Secret Service had to walk her to her car to make sure no Trump fan assaulted her–is another example of Trump “punching down.” Tur isn’t a powerful news anchor with name recognition; she’s a (physically small) beat reporter. Dozens of journalists have similar stories to tell. Will all of Trump’s current fans really continue to glory in worshipping this Bully-in-Chief? Or will some of them peel away in shame at having been toadies? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4137 "2016-08-12T22:15:46Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Here’s NBC News’s Katy Tur on the day-to-day weirdness of covering Trump: [Katy Tur Talks Covering Donald Trump's Candidacy for NBC | Marie Claire](http://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a21997/donald-trump-katy-tur/) That was a great read; thanks! ---
**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 12, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4138 "2016-08-12T22:21:52Z")
On CNN, the Arkansas Attorney General just said that she supports Trump because she respects a man who upholds the Constitution. This in response to civilians being subject to military tribunals at Guantanamo Bay. And she spins every question back to how bad Clinton is. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4139 "2016-08-13T00:11:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > No worries. I’m sure Chris Christie and his legions will be working _super_ hard to help The Donald. > (snip) He… kinda got [his own problem going, right now](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/10/politics/chris-christie-text-bridgegate-lied/) Seems that during a conference about Bridgegate where Christie denied any and everything, an aide texted “He just flat out lied” to a colleague… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4140 "2016-08-13T01:08:51Z")
The Donald is back on the cheating issue: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/donald-trump-pennsylvania-cheating/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/donald-trump-pennsylvania-cheating/) I’m rather taken by this part: > [@](#): > > “We’re going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to _ **certain areas** _ and watch and study and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times,” (Bolding and Italics mine) I mean, it’s not even a dog-whistle anymore; he’s blowing the damn thing loud enough to wake the dead. IMHO as always; YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4141 "2016-08-13T01:22:32Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > The Donald is back on the cheating issue: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/donald-trump-pennsylvania-cheating/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/donald-trump-pennsylvania-cheating/) > > I’m rather taken by this part: (Bolding and Italics mine) > > I mean, it’s not even a dog-whistle anymore; he’s blowing the damn thing loud enough to wake the dead. > > IMHO as always; YMMV. The state that is currently a good, solid blue according to 538, and that he said looked like a war zone when he saw the capital city from his plane? Yeah, the ONLY way he could lose that state is is there’s cheating by “certain people.” ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2016, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4142 "2016-08-13T01:32:11Z")
> [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](#): > > The Donald is back on the cheating issue: [http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/donald-trump-pennsylvania-cheating/](http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/12/politics/donald-trump-pennsylvania-cheating/) > > I’m rather taken by this part: (Bolding and Italics mine) > > > [@](#): > > > > “We’re going to watch Pennsylvania. Go down to certain areas and watch and study and make sure other people don’t come in and vote five times,” > > I mean, it’s not even a dog-whistle anymore; he’s blowing the damn thing loud enough to wake the dead. > > IMHO as always; YMMV. There is going to be violence at the polls. I hope I’m wrong but statements like this could lead to it, considering some of the people who support him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=206) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=208)