# 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:** 298
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5943 "2016-09-07T21:10:27Z")
Mark Shields, the Avatar of Frumpy, said it best: “An egomaniac with an inferiority complex”.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5944 "2016-09-07T21:20:17Z")
On MSNBC, an unnamed Republican source characterized the election as a choice between Berlusconi and Nixon, and they might have to vote for Nixon.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5945 "2016-09-07T21:21:29Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#):
>
> On MSNBC, an unnamed Republican source characterized the election as a choice between Berlusconi and Nixon, and they might have to vote for Nixon.
I guess that’s why Berlusconi is now trending… people trying to figure out what the hell is meant by that. 😉
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5946 "2016-09-07T21:47:36Z")
Mike Pence grudgingly admits Obama is a US Citizen:
> [@](#):
>
> “Well I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, I accept his birthplace,” Pence told reporters before a fundraiser in San Diego.
> **[Mike Pence Says Obama Was Born in Hawaii: 'I Accept His Birthplace'](https://time.com/4482683/mike-pence-trump-obama-birther/)**
>
> Donald Trump, on the other hand, dodged questions about Obama's birth certificate earlier this week
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5947 "2016-09-07T22:26:01Z")
I think Trump’s chances in Florida are in serious jeopardy. Although the Hispanic population of Florida is distinct from that of the American Southwest, the anti-Latino race baiting and just race baiting in general is probably going to take its toll, and the pay-for-play scheme probably adds to the mess there.
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### Author:  [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5948 "2016-09-07T22:27:25Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#):
>
> Why, again, are you criticizing a party for nominating someone you acknowledge would make a decent president?
For the same reason I don’t think nominating Nixon was one of the Republicans’ finer moments.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5949 "2016-09-07T22:27:48Z")
> [@adaher](#):
>
> We need it to be close because both parties were stupid this time. Historically awful approval ratings for both candidates and they had those ratings long before they even started the voting.
Bullshit. [Hillary’s had plenty of times when her approval ratings have been in the high 50s to mid 60s](http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/19/hillary-clinton-approval-timeline/)– like when she was doing the work of Secretary of State and Senator. Or when she was First Lady. She was admired and respected by people on both sides of the aisle when she was SoS AND Senator.
So _historically_, people like her and think she does good work, except when the GOP goes on attack mode during her campaigns and they start flinging horse shit at her.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5950 "2016-09-07T22:30:46Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
>
> Bullshit. [Hillary’s had plenty of times when her approval ratings have been in the high 50s to mid 60s](http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/19/hillary-clinton-approval-timeline/)– like when she was doing the work of Secretary of State and Senator. Or when she was First Lady. She was admired and respected by people on both sides of the aisle when she was SoS AND Senator.
>
> So _historically_, people like her and think she does good work, except when the GOP goes on attack mode during her campaigns and they start flinging horse shit at her.
And, too, it has to be admitted that many Americans have a problem with women asking for promotions. It’s just not _seemly_ (or something).
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### Author:  [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5951 "2016-09-07T22:33:04Z")
Hillary Clinton’s new ad shows Donald saying, “I love war” over images of dead bodies.
[![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-FUfMRgbWU)
It’s war alright.
Politifact notes that the comments are taken out of context - that’s Trump’s party line, too - but he did say the things he’s accused of saying. Here’s a brief transcript -
> **[Dem ad selectively edits Trump's views on war](https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2016/jun/19/priorities-usa-action/super-pac-ad-says-trump-likes-war-even-nuclear-lac/)**
>
> Donald Trump would be "too dangerous for America," says a new ad from Priorities USA Action, a political action committe
> [@](#):
>
> It starts with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski asking Trump, “Who are you consulting with consistently so that you are ready on day one?”
>
> “I’m speaking with myself, number one,” he responds.
>
> Then the ad cuts to four more of Trump’s comments:
>
> “This is the Trump theory on war… I’m really good at war. I love war in a certain way.”
>
> “Including with nukes, yes, including with nukes.”
>
> “I want to be unpredictable, I’m not going to tell you right now what I’m gonna do.”
>
> “I know more about ISIS than the generals. Believe me.”
Frankly, there is no context in which Trump’s remarks about knowing more than anyone else about wars is either true or acceptable. Context doesn’t make his egomania less batshit.
It’s a good ad. And today, right before their first scheduled meeting, is the perfect time for Clinton to unveil it. The topic of that meeting will be back to back speeches before military veterans about Foreign Policy. /snicker
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### Author:  [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5952 "2016-09-07T22:33:12Z")
> [@adaher](#):
>
> For the same reason I don’t think nominating Nixon was one of the Republicans’ finer moments.
What does that have to do with all your previous criticisms of why the Democrats nominated him, which had nothing to do with corruption?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5953 "2016-09-07T22:39:01Z")
The Democrats nominated Nixon? Guess my memory ain’t what it used to be. Or it is, and I just don’t remember.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5954 "2016-09-07T22:43:12Z")
> [@Merneith](#):
>
> Hillary Clinton’s new ad shows Donald saying, “I love war” over images of dead bodies.
> [https://youtu.be/6-FUfMRgbWU](https://youtu.be/6-FUfMRgbWU)
> Politifact notes that the comments are taken out of context - that’s Trump’s party line, too - but he did say the things he’s accused of saying. …
Virtually all of Clinton’s ads are just clips of Trump saying stuff.
On the anti-Clinton side, I think there was one ad that showed clips of her using some ‘ers’ and ‘ums’ (in replying to questions about the email server, I believe). I guess that was intended to prove dishonesty, or lack of confidence, or something. But all the other Trump ads rely on an authoritative-sounding narrator telling us that unemployment and general misery will skyrocket due to some unspecified Clinton policies.
We just have to take the narrator’s word for it. Whereas on the other side, we can judge for ourselves whether or not Trump’s remarks are acceptable.
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### Author:  [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5955 "2016-09-07T22:44:26Z")
Had the Democrats been able to run Johnson, Nixon would have lost. I think that’s the reasoning.
Or…
If Humphrey wasn’t such a bad candidate, the Dems would’ve wiped the floor in '68.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5956 "2016-09-07T22:48:17Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#):
>
> On one of the shows this morning, Katrina Pierson called the Morning News a liberal newspaper. The same “liberal” newspaper that hadn’t endorsed a Democrat for President since 1964.
We’re in a post truth society. The entire Trump campaign is a Gish Gallop. Just lie so often that it’s impossible to fact check and even if you get fact checked it happens so often that it just turns into background noise that everyone ignores.
Truthiness was supposed to be parody, now it’s the status quo.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5957 "2016-09-07T23:30:24Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> I think Trump’s chances in Florida are in serious jeopardy. Although the Hispanic population of Florida is distinct from that of the American Southwest, the anti-Latino race baiting and just race baiting in general is probably going to take its toll, and the pay-for-play scheme probably adds to the mess there.
Wouldn’t the race baiting already have taken a toll if that was the case? It’s not like she’s running away with it in the polls. Maybe there will be a higher Latino turnout which isn’t being factored into the polling methodology but as it stands things look close in Florida.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [September 7, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5958 "2016-09-07T23:47:14Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> Wouldn’t the race baiting already have taken a toll if that was the case? It’s not like she’s running away with it in the polls. Maybe there will be a higher Latino turnout which isn’t being factored into the polling methodology but as it stands things look close in Florida.
Florida was destined to be tight from the start, and it will end up a tight race. But Florida was a state Trump could have and should have taken. I now have doubts that he will. In response to your comment, I think Trump could have gotten away with his earlier comments about Mexicans – Florida is Hispanic but Puerto Rican, Cuban, and South American. He could have done okay with Latinos had he not decided to turn to the Alt Right and had there been the much-discussed ‘pivot’. But the recent stunt in Mexico and the speech in Arizona make it clear that there is not going to be a pivot at all, and I think there is probably heightened concern among all minorities, especially all Latinos, about what a Trump presidency would mean for people who are visible minorities. I also suspect that, upon realizing his fading chances to pick up votes among minorities, he’s going to continue to be repugnant in the eyes of minority voters.
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### Author:  [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5959 "2016-09-08T01:25:37Z")
I don’t see why he “could have and should have” won Florida. It’s gone Dem 3 of the last 5 elections even if you don’t count Gore in 2000. For months with only short breaks Clinton has had some sort of lead in the polls. And Trump announced his election campaign with his rapist Mexicans line so it’s not like he didn’t start off on the wrong foot.
Also working against your point is the last 4 way poll had Trump +1.
[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/fl/florida\_trump\_vs\_clinton\_vs\_johnson\_vs\_stein-5963.html](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/fl/florida_trump_vs_clinton_vs_johnson_vs_stein-5963.html)
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### Author:  [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5960 "2016-09-08T01:53:14Z")
> [@jsc1953](#):
>
> This election year is so unusual that I don’t think we can project anything from it, like the viability of a demagogue populist who _isn’t_ running against someone with enormous unlikability. I’d love to see how Trump would be doing against Mr Average Democrat. I suspect he would be getting crushed.
I suspect you are right, which makes me want to cry…or scream. People are being so unfair to Hillary. ☹
**Merneith** , great ad. I especially like the red “UNFIT”. It’s “Daisy” 2016.
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#):
>
> Bullshit. [Hillary’s had plenty of times when her approval ratings have been in the high 50s to mid 60s](http://www.people-press.org/2015/05/19/hillary-clinton-approval-timeline/)– like when she was doing the work of Secretary of State and Senator. Or when she was First Lady. She was admired and respected by people on both sides of the aisle when she was SoS AND Senator.
>
> So _historically_, people like her and think she does good work, except when the GOP goes on attack mode during her campaigns and they start flinging horse shit at her.
Exactly. And it’s not just that she was once popular and has declined. I posted numbers a while ago showing that there have been at least three distinct periods when she had those high approval ratings _after_ periods when her ratings were in the shitter like they are now.
> [@Jack\_Batty](#):
>
> Just because your party fucked up and nominated a hairbag with toenails, don’t go projecting your inadequacies on the rest of us.
::standing ovation::
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5961 "2016-09-08T02:25:05Z")
> [@adaher](#):
>
> We need it to be close because both parties were stupid this time.
Do you really think the millions of Republicans who are happily eating up the Trump-served red meat are going to blink blearily after the election and wonder how they were fooled? Sure, there are going to be some who want some sort of realpolitik lesson out of this, but there a lot more who will end this election convinced that the “murderers” and “crooks” in Hillary’s employ stole the election from Trump, and they’ll carry that attitude forward with them into future political cycles.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2016, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/5962 "2016-09-08T02:30:39Z")
> [@CarnalK](#):
>
> I don’t see why he “could have and should have” won Florida. It’s gone Dem 3 of the last 5 elections even if you don’t count Gore in 2000. For months with only short breaks Clinton has had some sort of lead in the polls. And Trump announced his election campaign with his rapist Mexicans line so it’s not like he didn’t start off on the wrong foot.
>
> Also working against your point is the last 4 way poll had Trump +1.
> [2016 Florida Election: Trump vs. Clinton vs. Johnson vs. Stein Polls | RealClearPolling](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2016/president/fl/florida_trump_vs_clinton_vs_johnson_vs_stein-5963.html)
Trump has advantages in Florida, such as the fact that he is essentially a partial resident and he has a lot of name-brand recognition in the state. Not all of it good, but he did win the state’s primary by thrashing its junior senator in his home state. The state also elected a Florida governor who is fairly popular and has strongly supported Trump’s campaign.
Trump’s problem is that he has probably lowered his already low favorability among the minority population in that state. For instance, there are a LOT of Puerto Ricans moving into the state, and many of them are not supporters of Trump. Beyond that, the recent bribe, er, donation to the AG can’t be a particularly beneficial development for his campaign efforts there.
The larger problem that Trump has – maybe his biggest logistical challenge – is that he doesn’t have Hillary’s organization. His poll numbers might be rising nationally and even in swing states. But there will almost surely be another Trump crisis, and he has a bad track record of handling these things. It usually devolves into Trump having to shake up the campaign team. He gains ground in some states but then loses ground in others. There’s no unified campaign that can act with a single strategy.
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