# How can anyone vote for Trump in 2020? No. But Seriously **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 19, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506 "2020-08-19T18:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/401 "2020-08-31T16:40:45Z")
One also has to subtract from that military budget the stupid wall where he is continuing to waste money, not only on areas where the wall was less needed, but also the money tossed to Trump’s preferred grifters. ---
**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:** [August 31, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/402 "2020-08-31T17:23:53Z")
Keeping the message simple here in San Antonio: [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B4eTfGN_J1_06UcrUoopSh6Jqu75LvMv24--Hcq61G92OveZ38tNrElSqNu0XLmRKFSGeSyB40gH_fFVmX6NOSooJ7I_Q07wFSuNnPB7FI4AoeAqdPJeDVLJew2_2VTEupP2A1rjHw=w600-h315-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/FkJsFfvvPSD3BFtx5) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/403 "2020-08-31T18:19:28Z")
Claiming credit for rebuilding the military is nonsense when you factor in the wanton destruction to our alliances. When our NATO partners have no confidence that we have their backs, that more than negates whatever good he claims about rebuilding the military. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/404 "2020-09-01T00:00:45Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > As for the Iran and China points, it is clear that Sam does not read cites that were posted already Same for the Jerusalem point, which is not remotely an example of a good thing Trump’s done. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/405 "2020-09-01T00:35:04Z")
Wasn’t Trump also going to stop the US getting into pointless wars too? - something I actually agree with, if he does it. In which case, why does the military need to be ‘rebuilt’ at all? Shouldn’t you be able to save money by having _less_ military? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/406 "2020-09-01T00:52:49Z")
He doesn’t want to lose the right-wing warhawk vote. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/407 "2020-09-01T01:26:53Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > No, the entire system is ridiculous. Especially in places that have open primaries. The idea that a person that has no vested interest in a party nor its candidates can still help decide who the candidate for that party will be even though they have absolutely no intention of voting for that candidate nor for that party in the general election, is completely ludicrous. The system is mob rule at its worst. > > In a properly run political system the likes of Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, or even career politician Joe Biden would not be on the presidential ballot from a major party. I don’t understand how your second paragraph follows from your first. Maybe - MAYBE - Trump doesn’t make it, but why wouldn’t Clinton or Biden? Both were obviously quite popular in their parties. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/408 "2020-09-01T01:28:21Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Claiming credit for rebuilding the military is nonsense when you factor in the wanton destruction to our alliances. It’s ridiculous before you get to that point. It’s ridiculous because the US military was the most powerful in the world when he took office. What was there to rebuild? Before some Trumpist says “but look he bought the military this stuff and that stuff” the US military buys some kind of new stuff every year. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/409 "2020-09-01T01:33:14Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s ridiculous before you get to that point. It’s ridiculous because the US military was the most powerful in the world when he took office. What was there to rebuild? > > Before some Trumpist says “but look he bought the military this stuff and that stuff” the US military buys some kind of new stuff every year. It’s a waste of time trying to parse what Trump says. It’s much easier to simply assume that whatever comes out of his mouth (or his Twitter account) is a lie. ---
**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 1, 2020, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/410 "2020-09-01T02:00:35Z")
> [@Akaj](#): > > I see this mentioned frequently but never examined. How did our military need “rebuilding” after the Obama administration, and what exactly has Trump done to get credit for accomplishing it? Well, folks like Sam are pretty convinced that Obama got us into that war with Iraq, and after all, when 9/11 happened, Obama was just sitting in the oval office doing nothing, right? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/411 "2020-09-01T02:12:02Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > It’s ridiculous because the US military was the most powerful in the world when he took office. What was there to rebuild? Like many other right-wing slogans, it’s what’s called a [thought-terminating cliché](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought-terminating_clich%C3%A9). There’s no need for further analysis; you just repeat the phrase until you believe it. The nice thing about these catchphrases is that they act as an anti-shibboleth. As soon as someone uses one, you know instantly that they are not doing any reasoning on their own, just parroting some propaganda. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/412 "2020-09-01T11:34:44Z")
Lot of Hawks on the left too. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/413 "2020-09-01T12:29:27Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > After watching the RNC on YouTube, their algorithm presumed I had an interest in conservative content, and presented me with several videos with conservatives reacting to the RNC and other videos just expressing general conservative viewpoints. I watched many of them. > > I’m convinced the majority of people, conservatives and liberals alike, do not consume media expressing opposing viewpoints. If your main sources of information are the RNC, conservative news outlets, and conservative content on the Internet, then you’re going to get the impression that Trump is the better candidate, and that electing Biden will be a poor choice, both for you personally and the US in general. Frankly I have very little difficulty seeing how people choose to vote for Trump, and I will not be surprised if he is reelected. The messaging I see from liberals, and here on the SDMB, is simply not reaching conservatives. Again, I see how my conservative inlaws consume media. It’s very passive. Fox News just kind of blares in the background “for noise”. My conservative friends just tend to repost conservative news stories on social media, with the presumption that everyone finds them universally outrageous. In contrast, my more liberal friends and family tend to be more active in their consumption and critique of various news sources, similar to how people on the SDMB discuss stuff. The presumption in liberals part is that their message isn’t reaching conservatives. Conservatives simply don’t care or they are viewing that message through a completely different lens. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/414 "2020-09-01T12:56:00Z")
Okay, but that is just nitpicking your preferred terminology in or to avoid the question as to who it is that you would have to choose the people who will be doing the act of governing. If they are supposed to represent us, then it seems that we would have a say over who they are, which would be democracy. The “watering down” of the senate, as you call it, is in the constitution exactly the same as your right to bear arms or have free speech. They only work for us if they are answerable to us. If they are only answerable to the select few who get to be in those smoke filled backrooms that you want to bring back, then where do we get a say in how they do their jobs? And this thread is specifically about the head of state, so… not only is your nitpick about your preferred terminology a distraction, it is also contradictory to your own statement. And, as to whether you would obligate someone who voted for Kasich in the primary to vote for Trump in the general, you’ve made your answer clear as to how you feel about giving people the ability to choose their “leaders”. Dictatorships really are the best form of government, as long as you are the one in charge. Their flaws only tend to show up if you disagree with something, anything, the government does, and many who advocate for authoritarianism think that they will always be the one in charge. Are you sure that you will always be the one in charge? How will you feel if you get your way in that we no longer have democracy, but you don’t agree with the way it is being run? ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/415 "2020-09-01T12:57:11Z")
Or Maurine Williamson. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/416 "2020-09-01T13:02:07Z")
> [@GIGObuster](#): > > One also has to subtract from that military budget the stupid wall where he is continuing to waste money, not only on areas where the wall was less needed, but also the money tossed to Trump’s preferred grifters. To be fair, that’s not coming from the budget for bullets and planes, but from schools and infrastructure to support our soldiers and their families. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Well, folks like Sam are pretty convinced that Obama got us into that war with Iraq, and after all, when 9/11 happened, Obama was just sitting in the oval office doing nothing, right? Worse than that, he wasn’t even _in_ the Oval Office at the time. What’s his excuse? ---
**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:** [September 1, 2020, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/417 "2020-09-01T13:06:29Z")
Did someone mention the Wall? Hell, even here in Texas, the conservative newspapers admit they’ve been conned and are calling Trump on his lies about it: [![Google Photos](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/VCiQVokUp3taULK7jEA4BfaZbY95CsFwfGCWlTrSR4_uJ3gunkUujhDPzO2lDVDheJDlTpXVP5p_0w7d_tjo2CeZQdpBKMq4YLuqfz_BVQL1-Y4tQhT-8RtnSxvIFQUeETDqSYpcMg=w600-h315-p-k "New item by John Thornton") ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/fGvzKVFKHGUcqmBj6) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/418 "2020-09-01T15:24:16Z")
> [@eenerms](#): > > Lot of Hawks on the left too. Sure, but Trump doesn’t care about them. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/419 "2020-09-01T16:56:05Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Had the sane group decided early on to drop out and rally behind one of their own, we wouldn’t be in this mess today. I dunno. If I look at how alternate history might have played out, I don’t think we’d be better off if we were trying to make President Cruz a one term president. I think he would’ve managed to pass some horrid legislation - stuff with more legs and staying power than Trump’s largely ceremonial EO’s, something Trump could never do. And he’d be polite enough to give sufficient cover to the Romney Republicans that have walked away from Trump. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506/420 "2020-09-01T17:54:06Z")
Sure, politically, Democrats would have a harder time, because in that scenario, Republicans governed with a bit of competence. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-anyone-vote-for-trump-in-2020-no-but-seriously/918506.md?page=22)