# How bad a scandal for you to \*not\* vote for Trump's 2020 Democratic opponent? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [February 17, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704 "2019-02-17T03:47:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/81 "2019-02-18T23:56:44Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I know this is hypothetical, but I’m curious how much risk of nuclear war you’d accept to vote against Donald Trump. You’ve already said that if the Dem nominee was advocating for all out nuclear war with Russia, you’d vote against them. Let’s call that something like 100% probability of nuclear war with Russia. What if the Dem candidate was playing coy with whether they’d nuke Russia or not, or said, “on my first day in office, I’ll flip a coin, and if it comes up tails, I’m going to nuke Russia”. Would you vote for this candidate, with the 50% probability of nuclear war, over Donald Trump? What about if it was only 25% chance? In short, how much risk of nuclear war could you tolerate to vote against Donald Trump? Far and away the greatest risk of nuke war is with trump. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/82 "2019-02-18T23:57:43Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > In short, how much risk of nuclear war could you tolerate to vote against Donald Trump? 99% is still safer than the odds under Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/83 "2019-02-18T23:59:13Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > 99% is still safer than the odds under Trump. Come on, let’s be serious. ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/84 "2019-02-19T00:17:05Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > What if the Dem candidate was playing coy with whether they’d nuke Russia or not, or said, “on my first day in office, I’ll flip a coin, and if it comes up tails, I’m going to nuke Russia”. I’m willing to lay odds that this is pretty much how Trump starts each day. Different nuking target, obviously. Maybe California? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Economist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Evil\_Economist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Economist)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/85 "2019-02-19T02:08:58Z")
Put me on team zombie Hitler (although to be honest I’d be disappointed to know he was running on the D ticket, when he’s more of a natural R) Zombie Hitler wouldn’t worry me at all, because whatever the fuck form of moral degeneracy happened to Republicans hasn’t happened to Democrats; Democrats would have enough strength of character to immediately impeach that son-of-a-bitch (and also probably whatever VP thought it would be a good idea to join the Hitler ticket), and we’d be left with President Pelosi, which would make me laugh myself to sleep for the next 4 years. Zombie Hitler would only be dangerous if he ran on the Republican ticket. Those pathetic spineless Republicans would be so afraid of having their base withdraw support that they’d refuse to impeach, and we’d be right back where we are now. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/86 "2019-02-19T02:33:44Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > Come on, let’s be serious. He is :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/87 "2019-02-19T02:57:01Z")
If they nominated some bigot like that anti-Semitic congresswoman from Minnesota, I’d have to vote for a third-party candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/88 "2019-02-19T03:18:02Z")
> [@Evil\_Economist](#): > > Put me on team zombie Hitler (although to be honest I’d be disappointed to know he was running on the D ticket, when he’s more of a natural R) > > Zombie Hitler wouldn’t worry me at all, because whatever the fuck form of moral degeneracy happened to Republicans hasn’t happened to Democrats; Democrats would have enough strength of character to immediately impeach that son-of-a-bitch (and also probably whatever VP thought it would be a good idea to join the Hitler ticket), and we’d be left with President Pelosi, which would make me laugh myself to sleep for the next 4 years. > > Zombie Hitler would only be dangerous if he ran on the Republican ticket. Those pathetic spineless Republicans would be so afraid of having their base withdraw support that they’d refuse to impeach, and we’d be right back where we are now. I like the way you look at this. The question really exposes the difference between the parties when it comes to acting as a true check on the other branches, not to mention a true loyal opposition. Is there a word for that? Ethics? Nonetheless, I would caution you that Zombie Hitler could cause tremendous damage, his -D notwithstanding. Note that Zombie Hitler actually has a very strong resume compared to Trump. Military service, extensive government experience building his own movement rather than hijacking an existing one, writing his own manifesto while granting that is sucks, art world experience, overcoming hardship in the form of not just enduring the Depression in post war Germany, where it was the worst, but leading his nation out of it to unemployment levels Trump has not achieved even starting from much more favorable conditions, and all of this before mentioning historic byword level murderous retribution against his enemies. Trump has fired a few people, and shit-talked dozens more, scandalizing the news outlets and message boards. Big whoop. I am trying to say that Zombie Hitler is immeasurably more dangerous than Trump by virtue of his vastly superior abilities. Even under threat of rapid impeachment, you don’t want to be the guy who helped elect Zombie Hitler. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/89 "2019-02-19T03:40:43Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I like the way you look at this. The question really exposes the difference between the parties when it comes to acting as a true check on the other branches, not to mention a true loyal opposition. Is there a word for that? Ethics? > > Nonetheless, I would caution you that Zombie Hitler could cause tremendous damage, his -D notwithstanding. Note that Zombie Hitler actually has a very strong resume compared to Trump. Military service, extensive government experience building his own movement rather than hijacking an existing one, writing his own manifesto while granting that is sucks, art world experience, overcoming hardship in the form of not just enduring the Depression in post war Germany, where it was the worst, but leading his nation out of it to unemployment levels Trump has not achieved even starting from much more favorable conditions, and all of this before mentioning historic byword level murderous retribution against his enemies. Trump has fired a few people, and shit-talked dozens more, scandalizing the news outlets and message boards. Big whoop. > > I am trying to say that Zombie Hitler is immeasurably more dangerous than Trump by virtue of his vastly superior abilities. Even under threat of rapid impeachment, you don’t want to be the guy who helped elect Zombie Hitler. Since I was the one who introduced Hitler into the thread, let it be noted that I referred to the “rotting corpse” of Hitler. No zombie he. Elect it and then the VP becomes President. Besides, there’s no such thing as zombies. Let’s keep the discussion realistic. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/90 "2019-02-19T03:42:50Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > … > I am trying to say that Zombie Hitler is immeasurably more dangerous than Trump by virtue of his vastly superior abilities. Even under threat of rapid impeachment, you don’t want to be the guy who helped elect Zombie Hitler. You have convinced me, you silver tongued devil you. I will neither vote for Zombie Hitler or Hitler’s rotting corpse. 😃 And so this gives lie to the posters who say no one here ever changes anyone mind with a good argument. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/91 "2019-02-19T03:45:58Z")
The potential Democratic candidate would have to make me think that they would be likely to do a worse job as President than Donald Trump has been doing. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/92 "2019-02-19T08:18:41Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > If they nominated some bigot like that anti-Semitic congresswoman from Minnesota, I’d have to vote for a third-party candidate. You mean the one who called out AIPAC for doing what lobbies do? Yeah - that’s a great reason to not vote for the opponent of the guy who keeps retweeting neo-nazis, and said there were good people on “both sides” of a white supremacist rally where one of the rallying cries was “jews will not replace us”. Way to keep things proportional. ---
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/93 "2019-02-19T15:52:38Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Why? He committed an infraction, admitted it, and was punished for it. He’s unlikely to re-offend (unlike, say, Weiner), and would make an excellent President. Why is that “pretty funny?” Lol, no. They said it disqualified him from the Senate, and there was no mitigation. How are you disqualified from the Senate but qualified to be president? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/94 "2019-02-19T15:57:11Z")
> [@UnwittingAmericans](#): > > Lol, no. They said it disqualified him from the Senate, and there was no mitigation. > > How are you disqualified from the Senate but qualified to be president? What specifically legally disqualifies him? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/95 "2019-02-19T16:47:35Z")
NONE. There is NO scandal that would cause me to not vote for the Democrat in 2020. Even though I’m almost certain to be in be in solid blue Illinois or even more blue DC in November 2020, I will never not vote, chase a 3rd party unicorn, or do a senseless write in. It’s fine for me, as a nobody, to argue politics on Twitter. It’s not ok for the president to shake up the financial markets because he’s negotiating trade policy on Twitter! ---
**Author:** ![UnwittingAmericans](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@UnwittingAmericans](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwittingAmericans)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/96 "2019-02-19T16:50:09Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > What specifically legally disqualifies him? Nothing legally disqualifies him from either. Let me re-phrase. What makes someone say 15 months ago that he was not acceptable as a Senator and now say that he would be acceptable as president? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/97 "2019-02-19T17:01:39Z")
> [@UnwittingAmericans](#): > > Nothing legally disqualifies him from either. > > Let me re-phrase. What makes someone say 15 months ago that he was not acceptable as a Senator and now say that he would be acceptable as president? The person he is running against, of course. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/98 "2019-02-19T17:29:23Z")
I can’t conceive of anything that has any chance of happening changing my vote. The only thing Trump lacks that makes him not so dangerous is competency in his evil. You don’t vote for people. You vote against their opponents. Even if I vote in a Democrat who has to be immediately impeached, I still got Trump out of office. And anything worse than Trump would be immediately impeachable. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/99 "2019-02-19T18:22:02Z")
It’s interesting because we always have the hypothetical threads on here every 4 years about what if a candidate dies or needs to be replaced after they’re nominated. If something so bad came out about the Democratic nominee after the convention, then they could be replaced. But, it’s pretty hard to get through primary season without anything major coming out. The Bush DUI and the Trump Access Hollywood tape are probably the worst and they both won and I doubt they changed many votes. ---
**Author:** ![Pithily\_Effusive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pithily_effusive/32/252_2.png) [@Pithily\_Effusive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pithily_Effusive)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704/100 "2019-02-20T01:13:25Z")
Velocity, please. “…some major scandal…”? Perhaps one put a dog in a pet carrier, strapped it on the roof of his car and sped down the highway at 80mph? Perhaps someone stole the prep notes for a debate? Perhaps one had an undocumented employee? In your scenario, is Bernie Sanders this “3rd party” in our grand two-party system? After all, he’s running and he’s a known quantity. I wouldn’t vote for Trump if you held a loaded pistol to my dog’s head (re: National Lampoon cover - Buy this magazine or we’ll shoot this dog.) Surely in times like these begging for the people part of “We the people” to come up with something other than the same ol’ same ol’ there are deeper considerations than this…Why in the world are we looking at people like Trump, Kamala, Biden, Rubio, Beto, Cruz, Warren as sufficient to lead our country? Are these the ONLY people in this land, or is this “Two-Party system” that cripples that 3rd requiring SCRUTINY? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-bad-a-scandal-for-you-to-not-vote-for-trumps-2020-democratic-opponent/829704.md?page=6)