How many Trump supporters were going to vote for Clinton?
Lokking at what she said in context, she is right.
“To just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? Racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic, you name it.”
Speaking about the “you too” point from Republicans, it has to be mentioned that Romney was insulting 47% of the country, Clinton is insulting about 18%. And with lots of reasons.
SULU: Captain, shields just snapped on. Something heading in at multiwarp speeds.
KIRK: Evasive maneuvres, Mister Sulu.
SPOCK: An extremely powerful bolt of energy, Captain.
KIRK: Full power to the shields, Mister Scott.
SCOTT: Giving them all we got.
KIRK: All hands, Red Alert. Phaser banks stand by. Photon torpedoes to Condition Red, Condition Red.
(The viewscreen fills with a ball of bright light.)
SULU: It’s going to hit.
(Everyone gets thrown around a lot, and the lights go out for a short while.)
SCOTT: Shields still holding, sir.
KIRK: Good.
SPOCK: Temporarily, Captain. Our shields absorbed energy equivalent to ninety of our photon torpedoes.
KIRK: Ninety?
SPOCK: I may add, the energy used repulsing this first attack reduced our shielding power twenty percent.
UHURA: First attack, sir?
KIRK: I think we can expect others, Lieutenant.
SPOCK: We can resist three more such attacks. The fourth will shatter our shields completely.
KIRK: Mister Spock, pinpoint the source. Mister Sulu, evasive maneuvres.
SULU: Aye, sir.
KIRK: Lieutenant, contact Starfleet Command. Patch in my log. Tell them what has happened. Tell them the entire Ukranian race seems to have been destroyed by an unknown but ignorant agency, and that we are under attack by an unidentified force.
(Another ball of light is on the viewscreen)
KIRK: Helmsmen, I said evasive maneuvers.
SULU: We’re losing power, sir.
KIRK: Scotty?
SCOTT: I’m having to divert the warp engine power into the shields, sir, if you want the protection.
KIRK: Mister Spock, speed of those bolts.
SPOCK: Approximately warp fifteen, Captain.
KIRK: Then we can’t out run them. Good, Scotty. You’re doing the right thing. (another hit) Source, Spock.
SPOCK: Unknown, Captain. Nothing within sensor range. (a third bolt approaching) Something now, Captain. Very small. Bearing one two three degrees, mark one eight. Range ninety thousand kilometers.
KIRK: That’s our target, Mister Sulu. Prepare photon torpedo.
(The third bolt hits)
SCOTT: Shields still holding, sir, but the drain on the engines is reaching the critical point. Ach, we lost warp maneuvering power. Switching to impulse.
SULU: Photon torpedoes armed, sir.
KIRK: Has the target changed location, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: No, sir. Holding steady.
KIRK: Ready photon torpedo number two, Mister Sulu.
SULU: Ready, sir.
KIRK: Fire.
SULU: Torpedo away. (a pause, then a flash) Direct hit.
SPOCK: No effect. Target absorbed full energy of our torpedo.
KIRK: Absorbed it? There must be damage to your instruments, Spock .
SPOCK: They are in good working order, Captain.
KIRK: But what could have absorbed that much energy and survived? Lieutenant, try to make contact.
SPOCK: Computing now, Captain. Weight, five hundred kilograms. Shape, roughly cylindrical. Length, a fraction over one meter.
KIRK: Five hundred kilos and only one meter long?
SCOTT: What kind of intelligent creatures can exist in a thing that small?
SPOCK: Intelligence does not necessarily require bulk, Mister Scott. Still, it seems quite small, quite full of itself… and it may have Very Small Hands…
Because nobody is talking about her emails. You don’t think this was an accident, do you?
Sigh…
Trump himself makes case for “deplorables” support.
And, reminding you, he said this in 2014.
Donald Trump, the gift that keeps on giving. You can’t even gaffe against the guy.
That was a strategic move, the pre-emptive gaffe.
Maybe not ‘very bad’, but definitely not wise no matter how accurate it might be. People don’t respond rationally to perceived insults. The wavering low-info lean-Trump voters that don’t fall into those categories but instead are just vaguely disaffected, are for the most part not going to change their mind because they’re being lumped with scum. Instead many are going to react angrily as if they’re being called scum. And a few uncommitted will think Hillary is being “mean” and decide to vote for Trump just for that asinine reason.
Hopefully it will blow over quickly as a single soundbite. But it is yet another example of just how difficult it is to be a modern political candidate in the age of 24-hr media. The self-discipline required to never make a gaffe while still trying to sound as off-the-cuff and spontaneous as campaigns demand is enormous.
With TOM SERVO as Nomad Trump…
Sometime, in some more appropriate thread, someone’s gotta tell me how you detect something approaching at fifteen times the speed of light, before it gets there.
Or is that an example of one of those things that only Trump can do?
His ego precedes his body, which light years ahead of his intellect.
What Romney said was as arguably true IMO, and it’s a matter of opinion. But it wasn’t politically wise, that seems pretty clear. And just the fact that that did turn into a perceive big deal makes it more likely a ostensibly parallel statement would draw more negative attention.
I think it was a poor political risk/return trade off for Clinton to say ‘half’, even accepting your point that it’s half of one major party’s support not almost half of everyone. She’d have been better off to make the point in some other words, as she has, and did in other sentences of the talk.
I bet there will be some walk back.
Pence makes an unforced error in response:
The common clay …
I don’t get it. Why is that a notable unforced error?
That article does have the hint of a walk back:
If she wants to walk it back so she “dog whistles” Bannon, etc, then fine:
“Oh, I was just referring to the racist assholes who are running his campaign”
We can also use Trump quotes against Trump.
Okay, now that quote is one that I would not call attention to if I were on Mrs. Clinton’s team. It is basically an appeal to authority and Mr. Trump is going to win out on who is the authority regarding who makes more money than who. In a vacuum that comment looks pretty stupid, but when brought up in a “compare and contrast” scenario, it favors Mr. Trump over Mrs. Clinton, IMO.
Maybe, but the attempt by Trump by defending that reprehensible half of Republicans is what Romney described nowadays as the “Trickle down racism” that Trump is making possible.
Backing down on this “basket of deplorables” thing would play into Trump’s hands. She can clarify, and say “maybe it’s half, maybe it’s a quarter, but the polling shows that a very significant portion of Trump’s supporters believe President Obama was not born in America, and do not want Muslims in the country, and other evidence-free and deplorable beliefs which Donald has stirred up and encouraged”, but backing down would be a very bad move.
“Basket of deplorables” is such a stupid phrase. She should have gone with “Bucket of Bigots”.
If I had my 'druthers (which I obviously don’t), the order would have been reversed: identifying those who live lives of quiet — and sometimes not so quiet — desperation first, and pointing out that she’s really trying to address their issues, then calling out the bigots. Something like “Unfortunately, besides those with real grievances there’s a sizable contingent of bigots …”
The response would be taken out of context, of course, but IMHO she’d have a much better comeback.
Satchel o’ Shitheads
Rucksack o’ Racists
Bag o’ Birthers
Gunnysack o’ Gun Nuts
Knapsack o’ Knativists
Anyway, better she not have said it. Insulting your opponent’s supporters gains you nothing, and may offend and push away undecided voters who might otherwise go for you in the end.