# 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:** 319
### Author:  [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6363 "2016-09-13T06:12:09Z")
_The Washington Post_: How Donald Trump retooled his charity to spend other people’s money
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-retooled-his-charity-to-spend-other-peoples-money/2016/09/10/da8cce64-75df-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62\_story.html](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-donald-trump-retooled-his-charity-to-spend-other-peoples-money/2016/09/10/da8cce64-75df-11e6-8149-b8d05321db62_story.html)
> [@](#):
>
> The Donald J. Trump Foundation is not like other charities. An investigation of the foundation — including examinations of 17 years of tax filings and interviews with more than 200 individuals or groups listed as donors or beneficiaries — found that it collects and spends money in a very unusual manner.
>
> For one thing, nearly all of its money comes from people other than Trump. In tax records, the last gift from Trump was in 2008. Since then, all of the donations have been other people’s money — an arrangement that experts say is almost unheard of for a family foundation.
>
> …
>
> In two cases, he has used money from his charity to buy himself a gift. In one of those cases — not previously reported — Trump spent $20,000 of money earmarked for charitable purposes to buy a six-foot-tall painting of himself.
>
> Money from the Trump Foundation has also been used for political purposes, which is against the law. The Washington Post reported this month that Trump paid a penalty this year to the Internal Revenue Service for a 2013 donation in which the foundation gave $25,000 to a campaign group affiliated with Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi (R).
I can’t quote more than four paragraphs, but at the end of the article it tooks about how the Trump Foundation (which consists mostly of money donated by people other than Trump) sometimes pays donations for which Trump publicly put himself on the hook.
An example it gives of this is the time Trump went on a TV contest called _[Trump Pays Your Bills!](http://extratv.com/2009/10/14/win-it-trump-pays-your-bills/)_. The winner’s bills were paid… by the Trump Foundation.
---
### Author:  [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6364 "2016-09-13T08:19:45Z")
Vox: Trump gave a shocking interview, we’re numb:
> **[Donald Trump gave an interview this morning that should be shocking — but...](https://www.vox.com/2016/9/12/12887522/donald-trump-interview-shocking-numb)**
>
> 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,...
> [@](#):
>
> Donald Trump went on CNBC this morning, and, over the course of a wide-ranging interview, once again reminded the world of the most fundamental fact about his candidacy — he doesn’t really seem to understand any aspect of American public policy.
>
> […]
>
> The whole thing makes me nostalgic for the days when I would complain that political coverage was too focused on candidate gaffes rather than policy ideas. Trump has no policy ideas, so there’s really nothing to focus on. You could spend all day trying to explain why various utterances don’t really make sense, but if he’s putting advisers out on television to denounce an entirely fake trade agreement with China, pointing out that he’s also getting the finer points wrong hardly seems worth our time. The best we can hope for is that Trump’s actual gaffes do get covered.
>
> But the truly scary thing is that Trump is redefining the concept of a gaffe out of existence. It turns out that if you just boldly repeat something often enough, it goes away as a story. We’ve become numb, as a society, to what Trump is doing. In the process we’ve normalized casual racism, intense personal insults as an approach to politics, and completely decentered the idea that elected officials should grapple with difficult policy questions. Half the crazy things Trump says or does barely merit a mention on Twitter, much less the front-page coverage they would have merited in previous campaigns.
>
> More than anything else, the numbness that Trump creates frightens me.
---
### Author:  [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6365 "2016-09-13T08:21:01Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> [An example it gives of this is the time Trump went on a TV contest called _[Trump Pays Your Bills!](http://extratv.com/2009/10/14/win-it-trump-pays-your-bills/)_. The winner’s bills were paid… by the Trump Foundation.
“Poorly rated TV show wants me to pay bills for some loser? I don’t pay bills from anyone. Sad!”
---
### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6366 "2016-09-13T09:26:22Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#):
>
> Vox: Trump gave a shocking interview, we’re numb:
>
> [Donald Trump gave an interview this morning that should be shocking — but we’re numb | Vox](http://www.vox.com/2016/9/12/12887522/donald-trump-interview-shocking-numb)
This passage struck me the most:
> [@](#):
>
> Seriously. Stop. Take a breath. Now imagine if Mitt Romney had run exactly Mitt Romney’s campaign but then suddenly in mid-September went on television and called Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas for no reason. It would have been huge.
>
> This year, basically nothing. Trump being kinda racist is a dog-bites-man story. After all, just yesterday Donald Trump Jr. shared a white nationalist meme on Instagram. Trump lies all the time, so that’s not a big deal. In fact, he lies frequently about the essential core of his foreign policy, and his business dealings pose such obvious and flagrant conflicts of interest and ethics problems that lying about his stock holdings doesn’t seem like a big deal. And of course Trump doesn’t understand what he’s saying when it comes to monetary policy — monetary policy is complicated and obscure and Trump doesn’t know what he’s talking about on any other issue either.
Trump has redefined what passes for acceptable and desensitized the public to the point of having lost our sense of outrage. We’re entering extremely dangerous territory, but the voting public is asleep at the wheel, too busy watching Dancing With the Stars or The Voice to give a damn.
---
### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6367 "2016-09-13T09:34:13Z")
The Polls (which ones? all of them!) so far indicate that the voting public is not completely asleep at the wheel. We shouldn’t get complacent but in all likelihood Trump is going to lose and lose big time.
I think that the next polls in about 3-4 days time will show that Clinton’s stumble at the 9/11 ceremony really had very little effect on people’s decisions.
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### Author:  [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6368 "2016-09-13T10:02:11Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> The Polls (which ones? all of them!) so far indicate that the voting public is not completely asleep at the wheel. We shouldn’t get complacent but in all likelihood Trump is going to lose and lose big time.
>
> I think that the next polls in about 3-4 days time will show that Clinton’s stumble at the 9/11 ceremony really had very little effect on people’s decisions.
The polls are typically 3-5 days behind a news cycle. I’m expecting a fairly significant drop for Hillary by polls released toward the end of the week, though any advantage lost at this juncture is certainly recoverable. If Hillary can somehow make it through the next series of polls relatively unscathed that would be a very welcome sign, and it would probably mean that the cake is starting to bake a little.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6369 "2016-09-13T10:42:39Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#):
>
> Whoa. What a weird feeling, looking at pictures of the BOK tower.
Not as weird as clicking the link expecting it to be the [Bok Tower.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_Tower_Gardens)
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### Author:  [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6370 "2016-09-13T11:34:04Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> Not as weird as clicking the link expecting it to be the [Bok Tower.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bok_Tower_Gardens)
🙂
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6371 "2016-09-13T13:08:09Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> The Polls (which ones? all of them!) so far indicate that the voting public is not completely asleep at the wheel. We shouldn’t get complacent but in all likelihood Trump is going to lose and lose big time.
What polls says Trump is going to lose big time? When you say “All of them,” are you saying “all of them” in a way that excludes LA Times, SurveyMonkey, Ipsos, CVOTER, Gravis, Yougov, Marist, ABC News, Quinnipiac, and a dozen or more others that all say the same thing; Clinton’s lead is slim?
I mean no offense, but you keep saying this over and over in multiple threads but it’s as if you are reporting from a different universe than the one the rest of us inhabit. There is no evidence from the polls that Trump is “Going to lose big time.” He is probably behind, but by a small margin. At no point has he EVER been behind by a really historic, genuine-landslide margin.
For Trump to lose big time, either
1. The polls are wrong, or
2. They are going to dramatically change for no reason that is immediately apparent.
Can you explain which it is, and why?
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6372 "2016-09-13T13:19:10Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> For Trump to lose big time, either
>
> 1. The polls are wrong, or
>
> 2. They are going to dramatically change for no reason that is immediately apparent.
>
> Can you explain which it is, and why?
I don’t think he’s going to lose big time. But I think an option you don’t cover is that the polls are right about people’s preferences but his voters don’t turn out. Unless you think that is covered by likely voter screens? I don’t.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6373 "2016-09-13T13:40:23Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> What polls says Trump is going to lose big time? When you say “All of them,” are you saying “all of them” in a way that excludes LA Times, SurveyMonkey, Ipsos, CVOTER, Gravis, Yougov, Marist, ABC News, Quinnipiac, and a dozen or more others that all say the same thing; Clinton’s lead is slim?
I’m talking about the electoral college spread. This is really not a close election when you look at the states Trump needs to flip to win, its almost impossible. Also 538’s polls plus currently has Clinton 70% chance to win, again not close.
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### Author:  [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6374 "2016-09-13T14:22:33Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> I’m talking about the electoral college spread. This is really not a close election when you look at the states Trump needs to flip to win, its almost impossible.
The states don’t move independently, though. If Trump wins Colorado, for example, whatever factors caused that are very likely to have caused him to win New Hampshire, Ohio, and Iowa too. So saying he has to flip a lot of states isn’t really different from saying he needs to gain 3 points in the national polls. He does need to do that, but he could easily do that.
A 30% chance of something happening in the real world is very far from “almost impossible.” In your everyday life, you would experience those odds as a coin flip. You have better odds in Russian roulette.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6375 "2016-09-13T14:34:11Z")
Louis XIV: “One king, one law, one faith.”
Adolph Hitler: “Ein Völk, ein Reich, ein Führer.”
Donald Trump: “One people, one God, one flag.”
Man, they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.
---
### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6376 "2016-09-13T14:36:58Z")
> [@asahi](#):
>
> …Trump has redefined what passes for acceptable and desensitized the public to the point of having lost our sense of outrage. We’re entering extremely dangerous territory, but the voting public is asleep at the wheel, too busy watching Dancing With the Stars or The Voice to give a damn.
Exactly. Well said. Trump is so relentlessly, egregiously wrong in what he says so much of the time, and Hillary is so loathed by the GOP electorate, that their eyes have glazed over.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6377 "2016-09-13T14:46:13Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> I’m talking about the electoral college spread.
Unless you think elections just started in 2000, that isn’t even “losing big time”, either. It’s not even close to that. The RCP map has it 209-154 Clinton with 175 states yet to be decided, many of which are leaning Trump. 538 has the average outcome 308-230 (this is not a specific map, but an average of all simulated maps.) Princeton, the most bullish on Clinton, has it 294-199, 45 tossups. Those are all results consistent with a small lead in votes, and would flip quickly if Trump gained 3-4 points, a perfectly plausible thing. Take the Princeton map and add 2 points to Trump and he’s a state away. He would need a point or two more, and Pennsylvania could fall, and boom, he’s President.
Elections that weren’t close were elections like 1996, and 1984 and 1988 were REAL blowouts. That’s what losing big time looks like.
Your claim that the task Trump faces is impossible is complete nonsense. He has to improve his standing in the overall polls by four points, and he’ll be the favourite. That is by no stretch of the imagination a simple thing to do, but it’s quite possible.
> [@](#):
>
> Also 538’s polls plus currently has Clinton 70% chance to win, again not close.
You are mixing up your messages.
First of all, a 70% chance to win is damn close. You are saying, in effect, that the election is sufficiently close that _you don’t really know who’s going to win_. Thirty percent in September is quite close; Trump has as good a chance of winning the election as a good baseball hitter would have of getting a hit in his next at bat. If an All-Star steps up to the plate, are you saying you’d bet much that he WOULDN’T get a hit?
Secondly, the likelihood of winning does not correspond to your claim that Trump “will lose big time.” Losing by a small margin, which the polls clearly indicate will be the case if things remain this way, is still losing by a small margin.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6378 "2016-09-13T15:21:51Z")
[Trumps comes out against Freedom of Religion,](http://addictinginfo.org/2016/09/13/scary-trump-just-declared-war-on-multiple-religions/) says that
> [@](#):
>
> “We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag,”
Does he say this to a religious and/or far-right wing group? Nope.
He is declaring this war on other religions while speaking to the National Guard.
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### Author:  [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6379 "2016-09-13T15:55:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> [Trumps comes out against Freedom of Religion,](http://addictinginfo.org/2016/09/13/scary-trump-just-declared-war-on-multiple-religions/) says that
>
> Does he say this to a religious and/or far-right wing group? Nope.
> He is declaring this war on other religions while speaking to the National Guard.
This is the 34th thing that I would think would sink his campaign (but won’t).
---
### Author:  [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6380 "2016-09-13T15:57:23Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#):
>
> This is the 34th thing that I would think would sink his campaign (but won’t).
Well that’s because Hillary had pneumonia and didn’t tell us and then something metallic fell out of her pants! You simply don’t have your priorities straight.
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6381 "2016-09-13T16:03:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Your claim that the task Trump faces is impossible is complete nonsense.
I stand by my prediction. Trump is going to lose big time. The polls are rigged, in his favour. I don’t believe that any of the polls are accurately taking into account the fact that Trump has zero ground game or get out the vote. Obama organised an excellent GOTV campaign and I assume he or his people are helping Clintons. It all comes down to election day and Clinton has a rock solid organisation to call people and harass them to vote or organise to drive people to the polling booths, that is what is going to make the difference.
No one should get complacent, but I do predict it’s going to be more of a blowout in Clintons favour than the polls (even 538’s polls plus) say. GOTV is everything nowadays and Trump has almost zero in this respect.
---
### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6382 "2016-09-13T16:05:07Z")
Judging by the way it bounces, looks like something small and relatively light, metal, but a very thin piece of metal. What do you call those things that you open a can of pop with?
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