# 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:** 365
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7283 "2016-09-26T21:34:35Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > One of my Facebook “friends”, and I use the term reservedly, posted a Trumpian meme that said: > > “So you’re Anti-Trump?” You must be a Liberal, an illegal, or living off the government." > > First: Sure, I’m proudly liberal. I’ll own it, and refuse to acknowledge the implied insult. > > Second: Which category does John McCain fall into? David Brooks? Meg Whitman? > [@Drum\_God](#): > > I thought McCain had endorsed Trump. Plus McCain would fall under “living off the government” anyway. He does get a salary, you know. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7284 "2016-09-26T21:38:03Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > One of my Facebook “friends”, and I use the term reservedly, posted a Trumpian meme that said: > > “So you’re Anti-Trump?” You must be a Liberal, an illegal, or living off the government." > > First: Sure, I’m proudly liberal. I’ll own it, and refuse to acknowledge the implied insult. > > Second: Which category does John McCain fall into? David Brooks? Meg Whitman? John McCain, arguably, has lived and is living off the government. Probably not what was meant by that comment, though. Also, they say “liberal” like it’s a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7285 "2016-09-26T21:39:14Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > John McCain, arguably, has lived and is living off the government. Probably not what was meant by that comment, though. > > Also, they say “liberal” like it’s a bad thing. yeah, I don’t think McCain cashes his check at the Grab 'n Go and uses it to buy scratchers and booze. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7286 "2016-09-26T21:41:47Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > yeah, I don’t think McCain cashes his check at the Grab 'n Go and uses it to buy scratchers and booze. You don’t know him! You don’t know his life! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7287 "2016-09-26T21:53:39Z")
CNN just reported that Trump’s camp has announced if fact-checking bodies end up dumping on him for what he says in the debate, then that will be proof positive these bodies are all Hillary shills. ---
**Author:** ![irritant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@irritant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irritant)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7288 "2016-09-26T21:56:07Z")
David Fahrenthold unleashes his weekly Trump-bomb: [Trump directed $2.3 million owed to him to his tax-exempt foundation instead](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-directed-23-million-owed-to-him-to-his-charity-instead/2016/09/26/7a9e9fac-8352-11e6-ac72-a29979381495_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_trumpfoundation-450pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory). ---
**Author:** ![skdo23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@skdo23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skdo23)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7289 "2016-09-26T21:58:37Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > CNN just reported that Trump’s camp has announced if fact-checking bodies end up dumping on him for what he says in the debate, then that will be proof positive these bodies are all Hillary shills. Trump’s preemptive well poisonings with respect to debate moderators this past week make me doubt that he plans to bring his A game tonight. ---
**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:** [September 26, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7290 "2016-09-26T22:03:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > CNN just reported that Trump’s camp has announced if fact-checking bodies end up dumping on him for what he says in the debate, then that will be proof positive these bodies are all Hillary shills. This will resonant positively with the conspiracy theory folks. After all, they also deny facts and point to shadowy conspiracies that hide The Truth. And, if someone in authority denies the conspiracy? That is taken as Absolute Proof that the conspiracy exists - because you’d expect them to lie about it, wouldn’t you? The long and short of it; Logic, facts and clear thinking play no part in Trump’s campaign whatsoever, because they don’t need to. They are playing their base perfectly. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7291 "2016-09-26T22:27:51Z")
> [@skdo23](#): > > Trump’s preemptive well poisonings with respect to debate moderators this past week make me doubt that he plans to bring his A game tonight. I said something similar above. Apparently I’m desperate. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7292 "2016-09-26T22:29:29Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > No offense, Jonathan, but that seems like a rather arbitrary decision. Have the members of the thread been asking for this change? > Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk My guess would be that this is a ponderous and meandering thread, and the mods are attempting to shift focus as we enter the home stretch. Perhaps **JC** or **Tom** could weigh in and expand their reasoning? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7293 "2016-09-26T22:33:11Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > My guess would be that this is a ponderous and meandering thread, and the mods are attempting to shift focus as we enter the home stretch. > > Perhaps **JC** or **Tom** could weigh in and expand their reasoning? I don’t see the problem with it at all – there’s really no need for separate threads anymore – campaigning is almost over. And from their POV it’s probably less to monitor and keep up with. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7294 "2016-09-26T22:52:42Z")
I don’t think they’re combining the threads though, just starting new ones. A clean slate, as it were. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7295 "2016-09-27T00:47:50Z")
> [@Biffster](#): > > No offense, Jonathan, but that seems like a rather arbitrary decision. Have the members of the thread been asking for this change? The overworked Mods who need to try to figure out when a slap at one candidate in the other candidate’s thread is appropriate have decided that having a single thread without hundreds of earlier posts to track will permit us to continue to have family lives. It will also make it easier on the TM who will not have to guess which snarky comment will be more appropriate in which thread. We announced the closure ahead of time so that no poster feels sandbagged that he or she had provided the absolutely most cogent and devastating assertion of the entire election season only to have their comment buried in a closed thread. [/Moderator] ---
**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:** [September 27, 2016, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7296 "2016-09-27T03:11:29Z")
I don’t mind closing the Hillary and Trump threads and having a single campaign thread for the homestretch. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > “I’m either too stupid or simply unable to find out what the facts are. So I can say whatever asinine thing pops into my head, and I’m not lying. So there is no problem.” “Still think I’m lying, just because there’s overwhelming evidence that I am? Sad.” ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7297 "2016-09-27T04:58:39Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > We announced the closure ahead of time so that no poster feels sandbagged that he or she had provided the absolutely most cogent and devastating assertion of the entire election season only to have their comment buried in a closed thread. If worst comes to worst, you can still link to comments in closed threads. You can even quote yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7298 "2016-09-27T05:15:45Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > The overworked Mods who need to try to figure out when a slap at one candidate in the other candidate’s thread is appropriate have decided that having a single thread without hundreds of earlier posts to track will permit us to continue to have family lives. It will also make it easier on the TM who will not have to guess which snarky comment will be more appropriate in which thread. > > We announced the closure ahead of time so that no poster feels sandbagged that he or she had provided the absolutely most cogent and devastating assertion of the entire election season only to have their comment buried in a closed thread. > > [/Moderator] Alrighty then. Fair enough. You da boss. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7299 "2016-09-27T06:51:38Z")
[http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160927/8a5e3ea0e04c06a104937a483bb5547e.png](http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160927/8a5e3ea0e04c06a104937a483bb5547e.png) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7300 "2016-09-27T08:58:31Z")
Question: do you think anything that happened tonight will change how Trump approaches or performs in the next debate? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7301 "2016-09-27T10:54:45Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Question: do you think anything that happened tonight will change how Trump approaches or performs in the next debate? He might want to rethink winging it. But then again, what substance does he actually have? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2016, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/7302 "2016-09-27T11:22:27Z")
He won’t change anything, because he can’t. This is what he knows and this is what he is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=364) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=366)