# Donald Trump's 2016 General Election Campaign
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901
**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:** 270
### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5383 "2016-08-29T18:23:48Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
>
> I posted this somewhere else, but [this is exactly how I pictured Dr. Bornstein being brought to the limo to write Trump’s medical letter.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPYz6AWxjGk)
Aha! I knew that doctor looked familiar.
---
### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5384 "2016-08-29T18:35:30Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#):
>
> Scrolling down to his tweets from yesterday, he’s got one tweet where he flaunts his lead in _Arizona_ - all of 2.6%, per Huffpost Pollster’s average, which is what he cites.
>
> Yeah, a 50.6 - 48.0 Trump lead in Arizona, which hasn’t gone Democrat since 1948. Feel the Trumpmentum!!
Nitpick, Bill Clinton carried it in 1996
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [August 29, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5385 "2016-08-29T18:50:44Z")
> [@MacCat](#):
>
> Odds are, yes.
That’s not what my bookie is telling me.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5386 "2016-08-30T03:36:38Z")
So Trump tweeted this yesterday: “I think that both candidates, Crooked Hillary and myself, should release detailed medical records. I have no problem in doing so! Hillary?”
What’s he playing at? Clinton has released medical records, or at least a lot more than he has. Oh and say what about those tax returns Donnie?
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### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5387 "2016-08-30T03:41:39Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
>
> What else is her campaign going to say? That she’s working on some killer ways to emasculate him on live TV? She’s working on some one-liners that will set off his hair trigger? She’s practicing her needling? This is a presidential debate, so the fact that they say she’s devouring policy research and he isn’t already doesn’t make him look very presidential. She’s doing what she has to do even before the debate begins.
Love this. But I also got a kick out of **RickJay’s** snark about Ali, pigeons, and chess.
---
### Author:  [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5388 "2016-08-30T07:44:34Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> So Trump tweeted this yesterday: “I think that both candidates, Crooked Hillary and myself, should release detailed medical records. I have no problem in doing so! Hillary?”
>
> What’s he playing at?
Because a “detailed” medical record will have more words in it.
More pieces of lint that they can magically turn into boogers.
It works both ways, it’s the same reason all politicians would rather not release any personal records.
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5389 "2016-08-30T07:50:34Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> So Trump tweeted this yesterday: “I think that both candidates, Crooked Hillary and myself, should release detailed medical records. I have no problem in doing so! Hillary?”
>
> What’s he playing at? Clinton has released medical records, or at least a lot more than he has. Oh and say what about those tax returns Donnie?
Easy. He’s counting on her not wanting to release a more detailed version of her records, as any further than what was released would start to get too personal. And, thus playing to the idea that she has something to hide.
It’s basically the Obama birth certificate all over again, in asking for the “long form.”
---
### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5390 "2016-08-30T08:38:47Z")
> [@BigT](#):
>
> Easy. He’s counting on her not wanting to release a more detailed version of her records, as any further than what was released would start to get too personal. And, thus playing to the idea that she has something to hide.
It’s still rather stupid of him, she can easily point out that what he has released is a joke compared to what she already has released and hammer him about the tax returns, which she’s released in full. Maybe this is meant to be the Rovian tactic of attacking your opponent where you are weakest but Trump really isn’t as good at it as he thinks he is.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5391 "2016-08-30T10:33:40Z")
> [@DonLogan](#):
>
> Because a “detailed” medical record will have more words in it.
“To Whom My Concern: his hands are big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big they are. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to his hands. Listen…” And so on.
---
### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5392 "2016-08-30T12:33:12Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> It’s still rather stupid of him, she can easily point out that what he has released is a joke compared to what she already has released and hammer him about the tax returns, which she’s released in full. Maybe this is meant to be the Rovian tactic of attacking your opponent where you are weakest but Trump really isn’t as good at it as he thinks he is.
His starry-eyed followers don’t care what he does or doesn’t do. All they see is what his tiny fingers point at.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5393 "2016-08-30T12:50:04Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> It’s still rather stupid of him, she can easily point out that what he has released is a joke…
It’s not stupid at all. It will work exactly as he intended; it makes people THINK Clinton has refused to release her medical records.
Millions of people don’t read past the first sentence or the headline. Trump has used that fact to actually have a chance to be elected despite there being no earthly justification for him to be elected dog catcher. Accusations work, even if they’re absurd.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5394 "2016-08-30T13:34:19Z")
Yep. Look at the headlines.
CNN: Donald Trump challenges Clinton to release detailed medical records.
USA Today: Trump to Clinton: Show me your medical records and I’ll show you mine.
CBS News: Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton: Both of us should release detailed medical records.
So for the huge number of people who only skim headlines (and let’s be honest - we all do at least part of the time), they’re seeing Trump challenging Clinton to be more transparent, which plays into the already established narrative that she’s not transparent at all.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5395 "2016-08-30T14:04:46Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#):
>
> Yep. Look at the headlines.
>
> CNN: Donald Trump challenges Clinton to release detailed medical records.
> USA Today: Trump to Clinton: Show me your medical records and I’ll show you mine.
> CBS News: Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton: Both of us should release detailed medical records.
>
> So for the huge number of people who only skim headlines (and let’s be honest - we all do at least part of the time), they’re seeing Trump challenging Clinton to be more transparent, which plays into the already established narrative that she’s not transparent at all.
Convincing absolutely no one new to his side. He’s simply changing the subject to ensure his Trumpeteers don’t abandon ship because he is softening on immigration.
---
### Author:  [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5396 "2016-08-30T14:44:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Well, that makes it one of the more politically normal things Trump has ever done, then.
>
> You are of course entirely correct, as is davidm, who wrote pretty much the same thing right after you had. What Clinton says she is doing to prepare for the debate is not necessarily what she is in fact doing, and I should have realized that.
Actually, it looks like you were both right.
[http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-debate.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&\_r=0](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/30/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-debate.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0)
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5397 "2016-08-30T15:02:41Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> “That so many could vote for Trump with all his manifest faults speaks volumes about Clinton.”
>
> No. It speaks volumes about the _voters_.
Please attribute my quote correctly next time.
But that’s a hugely arrogant statement you made, and in the unlikely event that Trump actually wins in November, attitudes like that will have played a significant part.
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### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5398 "2016-08-30T16:03:15Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#):
>
> Yep. Look at the headlines.
>
> CNN: Donald Trump challenges Clinton to release detailed medical records.
> USA Today: Trump to Clinton: Show me your medical records and I’ll show you mine.
> CBS News: Donald Trump to Hillary Clinton: Both of us should release detailed medical records.
>
> So for the huge number of people who only skim headlines (and let’s be honest - we all do at least part of the time), they’re seeing Trump challenging Clinton to be more transparent, which plays into the already established narrative that she’s not transparent at all.
Made my think of [this](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/04/if-youre-denying-youre-losing):
> [@](#):
>
> As the old saying goes, If you’re explaining, you’re losing. Or, more pungently, there’s the (possibly true!) story about LBJ spreading a rumor that his opponent was a pig-fucker.
>
> Aide: “Lyndon, you know he doesn’t do that!”
>
> Johnson: “I know. I just want to make him deny it.”
>
> If you’re denying, you’re losing.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5399 "2016-08-30T16:13:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> Please attribute my quote correctly next time.
>
> But that’s a hugely arrogant statement you made, and in the unlikely event that Trump actually wins in November, attitudes like that will have played a significant part.
The quote directly followed your post. Anybody reading would have followed. If there were intervening posts, post tags are used. Like, you know, now.
Trump has supported positions and policies that strike a blow at the very core of being an American. He is a con man. He owes hundreds of millions to the Chinese, undisclosed hundreds of millions to the Russians. He has been a patsy for Putin, and likely still is. He has no experience with government or sustained systemic success. He has aligned himself with racists, Communists, and whoremongerer’s. He is temperamentally unfit to lead. He is as abusive as a spoiled five-year old. He hates Muslims, despises Hispanics, and holds women in contempt.
So, I completely, absolutely refute what you say. Voting for Trump is more of a moral stain on America’s soul than supporting Stephen Douglas in 1860 because [we have seen how industrialization has transformed our ability to hate.](http://auschwitz.org/en/museum/news/) The facts are out there: This man has absolutely NO place being close to the Presidency. None.
So people _should_ feel ashamed in voting for Trump and I have no problem telling you that you are a bad American for doing so because the last thing I want to see on November 9th is a bunch of assholes wearing armbands. Or coats. Or something, like what happened in Germany in 1932 when Hitler came to power and all the bullies in society decided it was OK to _openly_ be a bully. 55 million dead later, and we see how _that_ came out. Add nuclear weapons to this mix and we might have to multiply that number by 100 before the Age of Trump plays out.
So deal with it: supporting and voting for Trump is a shameful position if you claim to love your country and what it stands for.
(See, we Catholics have no shame in using shame. And, btw, we cannot STAND Trump.)
---
### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5400 "2016-08-30T16:14:40Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#):
>
> His starry-eyed followers don’t care what he does or doesn’t do. All they see is what his tiny fingers point at.
We don’t need his base. We need to keep Hillary voters and attract independents.
---
### Author:  [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5401 "2016-08-30T16:18:46Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#):
>
> Made my think of [this](http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2012/04/if-youre-denying-youre-losing):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > As the old saying goes, If you’re explaining, you’re losing. Or, more pungently, there’s the (possibly true!) story about LBJ spreading a rumor that his opponent was a pig-fucker.
> >
> > Aide: “Lyndon, you know he doesn’t do that!”
> >
> > Johnson: “I know. I just want to make him deny it.”
> >
> > If you’re denying, you’re losing.
This, this, this, a million times!
Hillary must NOT be lured into a pissing match with Donald. What I’ve been reading about her team pinpointing his vulnerabilities, etc., and looking for ways to skewer him: ALL WRONG. She just needs to let him blather on, dig himself a hole, and fall into it. You cannot win a shouting contest with a guy like that.
I describe useless arguments this way (especially marriage/relationship arguments, but it applies here, too): the other person jumps into a mud pit and shakes his fist at you, yells at you, insults you, provokes you, all to get YOU to jump into the pit with him/her and roll around in the mud. Do not jump into that pit. Just let them roll around, spewing garbage and getting dirtier and dirtier. If you jump in, you will BOTH be covered in mud. There is no winner in this kind of match.
---
### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [August 30, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5402 "2016-08-30T16:33:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#):
>
> Trump has supported positions and policies that strike a blow at the very core of being an American. He is a con man. He owes hundreds of millions to the Chinese, undisclosed hundreds of millions to the Russians. He has been a patsy for Putin, and likely still is. He has no experience with government or sustained systemic success. He has aligned himself with racists, Communists, and whoremongerer’s. He is temperamentally unfit to lead. He is as abusive as a spoiled five-year old. He hates Muslims, despises Hispanics, and holds women in contempt.
>
> So people _should_ feel ashamed in voting for Trump and I have no problem telling you that you are a bad American for doing so because the last thing I want to see on November 9th is a bunch of assholes wearing armbands. Or coats. Or something, like what happened in Germany in 1932 when Hitler came to power and all the bullies in society decided it was OK to _openly_ be a bully. 55 million dead later, and we see how _that_ came out. Add nuclear weapons to this mix and we might have to multiply that number by 100 before the Age of Trump plays out.
Can I get an Amen?
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