# 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:** 320
### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6383 "2016-09-13T16:09:35Z")
> [@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.
I wonder when he will start calling for his followers to stop displaying the Gadsen flag and the Traitor’s flag at his rallies?
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6384 "2016-09-13T16:16:37Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> I wonder when he will start calling for his followers to stop displaying the Gadsen flag and the Traitor’s flag at his rallies?
We don’t know yet which “one flag” he is going to run the country under-it might be one of those.
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6385 "2016-09-13T16:16:55Z")
> [@](#):
>
> “When Iran, when they circle our beautiful destroyers with their little boats, and they make gestures at our people that they shouldn’t be allowed to make, they will be shot out of the water,” Trump said to raucous applause from his Pensacola rally audience."
Our “beautiful destroyers”? Well, OK, sure.
I’m remembering The War of Jenkin’s Ear…[War of Jenkins' Ear - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins%27_Ear)…
This one will be the War of the Flipped Bird?
Some Iranians claim that they need The Bomb to protect themselves from American aggression! Really, where do they get such crazy ideas?
This won’t end the Trump campaign. Psycho batshit doesn’t matter any more.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6386 "2016-09-13T16:24:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> We don’t know yet which “one flag” he is going to run the country under-it might be one of those.
[This one.](http://i.imgur.com/TNPgiqE.png)
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6387 "2016-09-13T16:36:54Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> 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?
A “church key” ?
Hillary likes to relax on tour by popping open chilled eighty-year old cans of Schlitz?
> **[Church key](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churchkey)**
>
> A church key or churchkey is a North American term for various kinds of bottle openers and can openers.
> The term in the beverage-opening sense is apparently not an old one; Merriam-Webster finds written attestation only since the 1950s. Several etymological themes exist. The main one is that the ends of some bottle openers resemble the heads of large keys such as have traditionally been used to lock and unlock church doors.
> A church key initially referred to a simple hand-operated device for pr...
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6388 "2016-09-13T16:47:09Z")
No, the thing that is built in to the top of the can. You know, the major advance in the science of creating trash that lives forever…
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### Author:  [@oft\_wears\_hats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oft_wears_hats)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6389 "2016-09-13T16:49:13Z")
> [@elucidator](#):
>
> No, the thing that is built in to the top of the can. You know, the major advance in the science of creating trash that lives forever…
You mean the pull tab? If so, those are actually very cleverly designed. More thought goes into them than you’d expect.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6390 "2016-09-13T17:31:59Z")
You mean the 1970s-80s pull tabs, that you had to throw away (onto the sidewalk) as opposed to the contemporary pull tabs that stay attached to the can.
But you could SAVE those old pull tabs and make things out of them by folding them together! I remember many girls of the 1970s-80s who made minidresses out of them. See-through minidresses. Very stimulating.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6391 "2016-09-13T17:46:38Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> I stand by my prediction. Trump is going to lose big time. The polls are rigged, in his favour.
Define “Big time” and let’s see if we can make a wager. The polls are not rigged; they are honest, as evidenced by previous elections.
> [@](#):
>
> Obama organised an excellent GOTV campaign…
And yet Obama’s performance in the elections was pretty much what the polls predicted. **If a great GOTV effort mattered, he would have overperformed the polls**. But he did not. In 2012, when Obama was supposed to have a godo ground game and Romney’s famed “Orca” ground game nerve center was an infamous debacle, Obama actually underperformed at the polls by a little bit. If GOTV is so important how can that be?
I’ll let you in on a sad truth; GOTV doesn’t matter. Forget it. In a Presidential election it’s complete horseshit. If people want to vote they vote and if they don’t they don’t, and the likelihood of GOTV mattering is next to nothing. There are not millions of people who will vote Clinton because of a strong GOTV effort who would not have otherwise; that is completely imaginary. The polls are correct.
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### Author:  [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6392 "2016-09-13T17:55:49Z")
[AVAAZ has an awesome campaign here.](https://avaaz.org/en/globalvote_loc/) They want to mobilize the 8 million US voters currently residing outside the US, to vote against Trump and to make a difference that way.
> [@](#):
>
> Only 12% of Americans abroad vote, because the process is so complex. But Avaaz has launched a dead-simple tool to meet all your voting needs - registration, ballots, and reminders. Welcome to a whole new era in US politics!
>
> At a time when Trump is trying to divide us, we could help defeat him if we all share this page with EVERYONE. Let’s reach every US voter abroad
[Look here and share this info with an American voter currently residing outside of the US !](https://avaaz.org/en/globalvote_loc/)
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6393 "2016-09-13T17:57:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> There are not millions of people who will vote Clinton because of a strong GOTV effort who would not have otherwise; that is completely imaginary. The polls are correct.
There is a huge difference, Romney had an IT failure sure, but he still actually had a ground game and organisations in every state. Trump has failed miserably at this, having little or no organisation in key swing states. Yes it matters, I’m not interested in arguing, the results on Nov 9th are all that matters.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6394 "2016-09-13T18:45:21Z")
Is it my imagination, or did Trump recently advocate nuclear proliferation? That alone should scare a lot of people away from him. The guy says so much crazy shit that it’s hard to keep up.
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### Author:  [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6395 "2016-09-13T18:55:43Z")
Former Palestinian terrorist-turned-right-wing-super-nut Walid Shoebat: “[Hillary is possessed by a demon.](http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/walid-shoebat-hillary-clintons-pneumonia-really-sign-demonic-possession)”
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6396 "2016-09-13T19:03:00Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> Is it my imagination, or did Trump recently advocate nuclear proliferation? That alone should scare a lot of people away from him. The guy says so much crazy shit that it’s hard to keep up.
Trump has said at various times in the past that he’s ok with Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia having nuclear weapons, then he flip flopped on it and said he was misquoted. None of this is new, it dates back to march. And yes it should scare the shit out of anyone with more than two grams of grey matter in their craniums.
> **[Donald Trump: Japan, South Korea might need nuclear weapons](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-japan-south-korea-might-need-nuclear-weapons/)**
>
> "It's going to happen anyway -- it's only a question of time," Trump said of the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons
> **[Trump: 'I Hate Proliferation' But It Would Be Better if Japan, Saudi Arabia,...](https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2016/03/29/trump-i-hate-proliferation-but-it-would-be-better-if-japan-saudi-arabia-and-south-korea-had-nuclear-weapons/)**
>
> Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said that ""I don't want more nuclear weapons" but that the world would be better off if South Korea, |
[https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/06/should-more-countries-have-nuclear-weapons-donald-trump-thinks-so/](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/04/06/should-more-countries-have-nuclear-weapons-donald-trump-thinks-so/)
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6397 "2016-09-13T19:14:52Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> Is it my imagination, or did Trump recently advocate nuclear proliferation? That alone should scare a lot of people away from him. The guy says so much crazy shit that it’s hard to keep up.
It’s part of his strategy. He says everything. It’s about emotion, not logic. His thing is that he’s a Big Strong Man who will save you, and that works on people.
This is the Fascist Playbook 101. He’s far more verbally incoherent than most examples - which I think is necessary in a media-heavy society that, if he said too FEW crazy things, could concentrate on them and hammer him - but certainly contradiction and wild promises are always the way it goes.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6398 "2016-09-13T21:44:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> Obama actually underperformed at the polls by a little bit. If GOTV is so important how can that be?
[The Bradley Effect.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect) There may or may not (I’d bet on may) be a gender analog to the racial one, but data is lacking.
> [@](#):
>
> I’ll let you in on a sad truth; GOTV doesn’t matter.
Evidence is anecdotal (it couldn’t be otherwise), but every little bit does help. GOTV doesn’t affect bulk numbers, no, but it doesn’t have to make much difference if the bulk numbers are effectively tied.
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### Author:  [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6399 "2016-09-13T21:55:15Z")
> [@davidm](#):
>
> _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)
> 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.
**House Democrats seek investigation of Trump Foundation**
Looks like the WaPo story is [starting to grow legs](http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/13/politics/democrats-investigation-trump-foundation/index.html). Let’s hope that it does. Trump may be able to play the martyr card to his base and claim that he is the target of a conspiracy, etc., but the DOJ won’t have to put up with all the “I know you are but what am I” bullshit that would likely keep the Clinton campaign from pursuing this themselves.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6400 "2016-09-13T22:01:56Z")
How is his campaign going to explain away all these years of economic growth, including the [latest numbers](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/business/economy/us-census-household-income-poverty-wealth-2015.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0) for 2015?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6401 "2016-09-13T22:06:27Z")
Be a whole lot better if rich folks had more money. Then they could trickle down on us more effectively!
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [September 13, 2016, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/6402 "2016-09-13T22:46:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#):
>
> How is his campaign going to explain away all these years of economic growth, including the [latest numbers](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/14/business/economy/us-census-household-income-poverty-wealth-2015.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0) for 2015?
Same way he flat-out lies about unemployment rates.
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