# 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:** 225
**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 17, 2016, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4483 "2016-08-17T15:28:13Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I don’t know. It’s really pretty far up there. Is there an astronomer/proctologist in the house? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4484 "2016-08-17T15:30:11Z")
I got the sense that it was originally to be a general campaign rally, and that, at the 11th hour, he (or his campaign) switched gears and decided to make it a policy address. I don’t know if the appearance in West Bend had already been scheduled before last weekend’s riots or not, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it was. ---
**Author:** ![dreamregent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6f9a4e/32.png) [@dreamregent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dreamregent)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4485 "2016-08-17T15:36:47Z")
I am in Congressional district 13 in Florida, which was just redrawn by court order because of gerrymandering and now it’s expected to switch parties from R to D because the district is now D-heavy. The R incumbent has distanced himself from Trump but hasn’t endorsed anyone. So, I called his office and told them I would vote for him only if he tried to save America by publicly endorsing Hillary. The dude I spoke to said a lot of constituents have been calling with the same proposition. So, perhaps we will have another R sitting member of Congress publicly denounce Trump and endorse Hillary. ---
**Author:** ![DiggitCamara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@DiggitCamara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiggitCamara)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4486 "2016-08-17T15:40:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I’m surprised it wasn’t signed by Dr. John Miller. Nah. [Dr. Nicholas Riviera](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Nick) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4487 "2016-08-17T15:41:23Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > Then the crushing loss in the African-American community followed by “But… but… we’re the Party of Lincoln! Why won’t they vote for us?” I am reminded of the story of someone who asked Hugh Hefner how he got “all them bitches”, to which he replied “First, I don’t call them ‘bitches’…”. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4488 "2016-08-17T15:43:05Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > It was a good laugh, but the weather channel had better, more factual content. A typical episode of “Ancient Aliens” has better, more factual content. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4489 "2016-08-17T15:49:54Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I just hope that Trump isn’t going to accelerate alienating the RNC. If he’s going to alienate the RNC, I want him to go all in, calling upon his derpulous disciples to punish the back-stabbing party establishment hacks by voting _only_ for candidates who give The Donald their full unreserved public support. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4490 "2016-08-17T16:07:01Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m sure Trump will hire a new campaign advisor by next Tuesday. > > **Some of the more recent polls suggest he’s stopped the bleeding,** so don’t assume he’s dead yet. He’s actually inching back up in the projections. Trump taking an incredibly offensive stance is probably a better strategy for him than no particular plan at all, which is what it seemed like he was doing for a few weeks after the DNC. For awhile Trump was reacting, and reacting is always bad. He needs to ACT, to control the dialogue, and try to mobilize the white guy to get out and vote. I think the key word is “inching”. For him to turn this around is going to require a long concerted effort at slowly chipping away Clinton’s lead. I don’t think that he is fundamentally capable of staying on point for the months that are going to be required to pull this off. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4491 "2016-08-17T16:13:44Z")
Even with the stampede of African-American voters who are totally sick of being taken for granted? ---
**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 17, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4492 "2016-08-17T16:16:30Z")
> [@john\_L](#): > > polls not important now. > will be in a month. Sorry, you’re wrong. Polls 2 weeks out from the convention have good predictive value. > [@](#): > > Indeed, the authors looked at general election contests going back to 1952, and found that the candidate who was in the lead two weeks after the conventions ended went on to win the popular vote every single time. > > Yup, you read that right. In all 16 of the most recent elections, the popular vote winner was the candidate who was ahead around this point in the campaign season. > **[Presidential candidates leading polls at this point in the campaign have...](https://www.vox.com/2016/8/11/12426346/trump-polls-today)** > > Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology,... On a personal note, would you consider using sentences and capitalizing? You’ll notice you’re the only guy here posting like the comments section of a news site. ---
**Author:** ![MN\_Maenad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e95f7d/32.png) [@MN\_Maenad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MN_Maenad)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4493 "2016-08-17T16:17:27Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > Why else Milwaukee? Or Connecticut? He’s even scheduled to come here to Oregon in a couple of weeks. We’re not flippable. He’s gotta know this. I have a hare-brained idea about this - Trump figures that he won the primaries because he got a whole lot of angry white voters to come out and vote in the first time since forever. He also figures that the only possible reason why all the states aren’t voting 80% Republican HAS to be because of similar blocks of white people not voting. So, all he has to do is get those people to vote and voila, President Trump. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4494 "2016-08-17T16:27:53Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > If he’s going to alienate the RNC, I want him to go all in, calling upon his derpulous disciples to punish the back-stabbing party establishment hacks by voting _only_ for candidates who give The Donald their full unreserved public support. I don’t think that “full unreserved public support” will cost the GOP as much down ballot as wasting resources on Trump will. I want Trump to alienate the GOP slowly so there’s as little time as possible to save the down ballot races once the RNC pulls his funding. Don’t get me wrong, I want it to happen, I just want the Republicans to have as little room to maneuver as possible. Hillary winning the general is us dodging a massive bullet, but it won’t fix GOP obstructionism. She will still have a massive struggle to get anything done. Hillary winning is the bare minimum acceptable result, it means we haven’t gone off the cliff yet. The Democrats also taking the Senate is better, but a filibuster-proof majority would be best. The Democrats also taking the House would be awesome, but I still think that’s pie-in-the-sky. The less resources the GOP is concentrating on congressional races, the greater the chances of Democratic victories in those races. ---
**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 17, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4495 "2016-08-17T16:31:22Z")
> [@MN\_Maenad](#): > > I have a hare-brained idea about this - Trump figures that he won the primaries because he got a whole lot of angry white voters to come out and vote in the first time since forever. He also figures that the only possible reason why all the states aren’t voting 80% Republican HAS to be because of similar blocks of white people not voting. So, all he has to do is get those people to vote and voila, President Trump. Not hare-brained at all. I think this is exactly Trump’s “reasoning”, and is also pretty much the reasoning of his new campaign team. They seem to think that Trump has not been nasty and unhinged _enough_ in this campaign. The plan seems to be that there is an untapped well of people who think just like them. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4496 "2016-08-17T16:31:40Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Particularly since a negative number of African Americans voting for him is within the margin of error. Ah ha! So the elections are rigged and there is voter fraud! He knew it! ---
**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 17, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4497 "2016-08-17T19:05:19Z")
> [@oft\_wears\_hats](#): > > I don’t think that “full unreserved public support” will cost the GOP as much down ballot as wasting resources on Trump will. I want Trump to alienate the GOP slowly so there’s as little time as possible to save the down ballot races once the RNC pulls his funding. Don’t get me wrong, I want it to happen, I just want the Republicans to have as little room to maneuver as possible. > > Hillary winning the general is us dodging a massive bullet, but it won’t fix GOP obstructionism. She will still have a massive struggle to get anything done. Hillary winning is the bare minimum acceptable result, it means we haven’t gone off the cliff yet. The Democrats also taking the Senate is better, but a filibuster-proof majority would be best. The Democrats also taking the House would be awesome, but I still think that’s pie-in-the-sky. The less resources the GOP is concentrating on congressional races, the greater the chances of Democratic victories in those races. The best outcome is for them to spend money on Trump until, say, mid-October, and then pull it, and have Trump pitch a fit and alienate his voters enough to not vote for mainstream Republican candidates. ---
**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 17, 2016, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4498 "2016-08-17T19:07:33Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Particularly since a negative number of African Americans voting for him is within the margin of error. A situation where you are close to 0 in a distribution and can’t go below it is called censoring in statistics. Which seems particularly appropriate for Trump. ---
**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 17, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4499 "2016-08-17T19:08:47Z")
Just to make sure I’m getting this correct, let me know if I’m right on the following, please: About 8 hours before recieving his first Classified briefing, Donald Trump is revealed as having changed the person who runs the campaign from a man with revelations occurring daily about his ties to Russia… to a man who runs a Press operation that is completely antithetical to the current administration. Right? ---
**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 17, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4500 "2016-08-17T19:34:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t think he _does_. Trump’s entire worldview can be summed up in three bullet points; > > 1. Donald Trump is very rich > 2. Donald Trump is very smart > 3. Everybody loves Donald Trump > > He _needs_ to believe that he’s universally loved. Blacks love him. Hispanics love him. Veterans love him. Women love him. Oregon and Connecticut love him, and the only reason he’s trailing there is because of the corrupt media, Crooked Hillary, and the rigged system, because if they were treating him fairly he’d win bigly just like he always does. > What we’re seeing, what we’ve _been_ seeing the last year, isn’t a deliberate attempt at self-sabotage. It’s the clueless flailing of a narcissist who’s spent his entire life in a bubble of yes-men suddenly having to deal with people he can’t bully or fire. I absolutely agree. The fact that so many observers keep returning to the ‘he MUST be trying to self-sabotage because NO SANE PERSON could behave the way he does’ theory indicates how deeply engrained is this particular cultural assumption: that someone who’s become the Presidential candidate of a major party must be a serious person of at least average intelligence and mental stability. It’s very difficult to come to terms with the obvious: this _assumption is no longer reasonable._ The human brain does seem to have evolved with a notable tendency: to default to the belief that Things Don’t Really Change Much. And so when things \*do \*change so radically–to a new world in which an entertainer, no matter how dim or delusional he is, can make it to the threshold of the Presidency–we have trouble taking it in. We want to believe it can’t be true; we prefer to believe that the person must know exactly what he’s doing by behaving like a shit-throwing howler monkey (to borrow a phrase). We want to believe that he can’t really be that stupid or sick–he must just be working out a _plan_; he must be trying to escape, and so is performing offensive and outrageous acts so that he’ll be shown the door. But, no. Everything he is doing, he is doing because _he believes it will win him the Presidency_. Everything he is doing, he is doing _because he believes it is the smart thing to do_. > [@JohnT](#): > > … About 8 hours before recieving his first Classified briefing, Donald Trump is revealed as having changed the person who runs the campaign from a man with revelations occurring daily about his ties to Russia… to a man who runs a Press operation that is completely antithetical to the current administration. … We have to hope that those conducting the briefing are responsible individuals who will be mindful of exactly what they are dealing with–and consequently careful about revealing information that could do harm if, say, sold to another nation. Or Tweeted just for the hell of it. But the fact that so many of us are worried about the possibilities is a measure of our deep-down knowledge–no matter how we deny it–that Trump genuinely IS stupid enough/unbalanced enough to either sell or broadcast sensitive information. ---
**Author:** ![oft\_wears\_hats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7993a0/32.png) [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4501 "2016-08-17T19:45:55Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The best outcome is for them to spend money on Trump until, say, mid-October, and then pull it, and have Trump pitch a fit and alienate his voters enough to not vote for mainstream Republican candidates. That’s exactly what I was thinking. Mid-October is pretty optimistic, as I’m not sure the RNC at large will stay on the hook that long. But I’ll be happy if they hold out until mid to late-September, to split the difference and prevent them from subbing in a new candidate in time for the 9/1 practical deadline. ---
**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 17, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/4502 "2016-08-17T19:52:58Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Just to make sure I’m getting this correct, let me know if I’m right on the following, please: > > About 8 hours before recieving his first Classified briefing, Donald Trump is revealed as having changed the person who runs the campaign from a man with revelations occurring daily about his ties to Russia… to a man who runs a Press operation that is completely antithetical to the current administration. > > Right? I guess but I’m not sure what difference it makes. Not like the Trump campaign wasn’t already antithetical to the current administration already. Also, I think the one and only way Trump could lose some of his diehard fans would be to blab confidential info. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=224) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=226)