# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/101 "2016-05-05T19:36:15Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Has there ever been a nominee in either party who the living former presidents from that party refused to publicly endorse? I’d say Teddy Roosevelt didn’t endorse William Howard Taft when he ran against him. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/102 "2016-05-05T19:51:36Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > Has there ever been a nominee in either party who the living former presidents from that party refused to publicly endorse? I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Bushes’ refusal to endorse Trump. After all, he knocked their son/brother - the presumptive nominee for some time - completely out of the race, and made him look like a wimp while doing it. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/103 "2016-05-05T19:58:50Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Now that Trump has the Republican Presidential nomination locked up are there any thoughts on his Presidential campaign? I see two quite different possibilities: > > 1. He can adopt most of the traditional Republican policies except for his trademark anti-Moslem and anti-trade philosophies to unify Republican support for him. > 2. He can move toward the center. 1. He can run to Hillary’s left. 2. He can largely ignore issues altogether, and run on personality and frustration with DC. He’s already to Hillary’s left on trade, and you can count on him hanging the last 16 years of foreign policy around Hillary’s neck. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see him making overtures to Labor, as well as a major play for African-Americans. Also, I expect that he will announce that what he really meant by deporting all 11 million illegals is different from what people thought he meant (or just that he’s changing his mind), and that in fact he supports a path to citizenship. The idea that Trump’s incoherence, contradictions, and ignorance will be “exposed” in the general election misses that they’ve already been exposed. His appeal is visceral and emotional, not intellectual. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/104 "2016-05-05T20:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > you can count on him hanging the last 16 years of foreign policy around Hillary’s neck. What did Hillary have to do with the Bush foreign policy? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/105 "2016-05-05T20:08:25Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > What did Hillary have to do with the Bush foreign policy? She voted for the Iraq war. I’m not saying it’s fair or rational; I’m saying it’s what he’ll do. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/106 "2016-05-05T20:14:58Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Bushes’ refusal to endorse Trump. I think the bigger issue is less “Oooohh… they don’t like him!” and more losing out on valuable surrogates to help them campaign. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/107 "2016-05-05T20:19:19Z")
> [@furt](#): > > \*\*She voted for the Iraq war. > \*\* > > I’m not saying it’s fair or rational; I’m saying it’s what he’ll do. [Not the entire story.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-marburggoodman/five-myths-about-hillary-iraq-war-vote_b_9177420.html) > [@](#): > > \*\*Myth #1: The 2002 Congressional Resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq, on which Hillary Clinton and a large majority of U.S. Senators voted yes, gave George W. Bush “carte blanche” to pursue war against Saddam Hussein. > \*\* > False! In fact exactly the opposite is true: While that Resolution did indeed authorize President Bush, under strict requirements of the 1973 War Powers Act, to use force, Section 3(b) of the Act _also required that sanctions or diplomacy be fully employed before force was used,_ i.e. force was to be used only as “necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq,” and to do so only upon the President certifying to Congress that “diplomatic or other peaceful means” would be insufficient to defang Saddam. The mistake was trusting Bush and Cronies. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/108 "2016-05-05T20:22:00Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Bushes’ refusal to endorse Trump. After all, he knocked their son/brother - the presumptive nominee for some time - completely out of the race, and made him look like a wimp while doing it. OK. Has there ever been a sitting [speaker of the House](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-gop-nominee/index.html)of the same party as the nominee who has refused to endorse the nominee? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/109 "2016-05-05T20:23:52Z")
> [@Fiveyearlurker](#): > > OK. Has there ever been a sitting [speaker of the House](http://www.cnn.com/2016/05/05/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-gop-nominee/index.html)of the same party as the nominee who has refused to endorse the nominee? How cute. Ryan thinks he can tell Trump what to do. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/110 "2016-05-05T20:29:51Z")
From article, Ryan quoted: “… This is the party of Lincoln and Reagan and Jack Kemp…” Check. Check. Huh? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/111 "2016-05-05T20:31:00Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Not the entire story.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-marburggoodman/five-myths-about-hillary-iraq-war-vote_b_9177420.html) > > The mistake was trusting Bush and Cronies. Oh, so that is a get out of jail free card? It was perfectly reasonable to trust Bush and Cheney to not start a war? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/112 "2016-05-05T20:32:11Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > I wouldn’t put too much stock in the Bushes’ refusal to endorse Trump. After all, he knocked their son/brother - the presumptive nominee for some time - completely out of the race, and made him look like a wimp while doing it. Jeb Bush was behind Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and possibly others when he gave up - he finished sixth in Iowa, beaten, I believe, by the famously nutty Ben Carson. It is not at all accurate to say Trump “knocked” Bush out of the race. Bush was barely in it to begin with, and he was competing with Cruz, Kasich and Rubio to be a contender. He was hailed “presumptive nominee” when he announced because he was named “Bush” and had money. At no point was he actually the frontrunner. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/113 "2016-05-05T20:36:53Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Oh, so that is a get out of jail free card? It was perfectly reasonable to trust Bush and Cheney to not start a war? :rolleyes: No but she did not “vote for war.” ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/114 "2016-05-05T20:38:46Z")
Are there any Dopers – any at all – who are eligible to vote in U.S. elections, and who intend to vote for Trump in November? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/115 "2016-05-05T20:46:02Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > [Not the entire story.](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-marburggoodman/five-myths-about-hillary-iraq-war-vote_b_9177420.html) > > The mistake was trusting Bush and Cronies. And Trump has already claimed he wouldn’t have trusted Bush. To repeat: The idea that Trump’s incoherence, contradictions, and ignorance will be “exposed” in the general election misses that they’ve already been exposed. His appeal is visceral and emotional, not intellectual. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/116 "2016-05-05T20:50:24Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > No but she did not “vote for war.” No, she just voted to let a hawkish administration decide whether to go to war. It is the weakest of defenses. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/117 "2016-05-05T21:05:48Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > No, she just voted to let a hawkish administration decide whether to go to war. It is the weakest of defenses. Given she was one of 77 Senators who voted for it, it’s the weakest of attacks as well. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/118 "2016-05-05T23:02:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Jeb Bush was behind Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, John Kasich and possibly others when he gave up - he finished sixth in Iowa, beaten, I believe, by the famously nutty Ben Carson. It is not at all accurate to say Trump “knocked” Bush out of the race. Bush was barely in it to begin with, and he was competing with Cruz, Kasich and Rubio to be a contender. > > He was hailed “presumptive nominee” when he announced because he was named “Bush” and had money. At no point was he actually the frontrunner. I think we just have a different interpretation in mind as to what I meant. Prior to the race beginning I think many people including the Bushes presumed that Jeb would be the nominee. I never meant to suggest he was ever the frontrunner. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/119 "2016-05-05T23:07:25Z")
BrainGlutton: > [@](#): > > Are there any Dopers – any at all – who are eligible to vote in U.S. elections, and who intend to vote for Trump in November? Is this going to become a Pauline Kael moment? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901/120 "2016-05-05T23:55:17Z")
Trump’s Hispanic outreach started with him Tweeting out a photo of himself poised over a taco bowl, giving a thumbs up and saying “Happy #CincoDeMayo! The best taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!” Clinton is doomed now, no doubt 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trumps-2016-general-election-campaign/753901.md?page=7)