# How can Donald Trump win at this point? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump, kamala-harris\ **Created:** [August 6, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351 "2024-08-06T21:13:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 68
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1341 "2024-08-26T19:59:04Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > The people are blame the most are the GOP pols who know better but support Trump out of their own self-interest. They are going to go down in history as a disgrace to the nation. On this, at least, we agree. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1342 "2024-08-26T19:59:40Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So I wonder if there will be Republican voters that don’t want Harris or Trump but will vote Trump/Vance and hope that sooner rather than later we get President Hillbilly. Apparently Vance is popular among young edgelord fascist college Republican types. Perhaps _only_ with them. The fact that there is a significant chance that Vance could take over from Trump if the latter were to win is one of the biggest reasons we need to beat Trump. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1343 "2024-08-26T20:00:09Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Here’s a kos article: A Kos article thinks he’s deteriorating. You don’t say! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1344 "2024-08-26T20:00:54Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > the only way that Trump can win now is on policy, because that’s what Harris is going to concentrate on. I don’t know. I listened to someone (maybe the republican analyst) saying that if Trump sticks to policy then the election is his to win because Harris is campaigning on feeling - joy. She hasn’t laid out detailed policy and hasn’t given any interviews or press conferences where she faces hard questions. Now I personally hope she doesn’t get too far into the weeds on policy. I’m not sold the tax free tips plan is actually a good idea. But she has expressed some good goals without all the details, like mortgage credits. I think it’s a mistake to avoid interviews, but maybe she’s priming it for the debate as the first scrutiny point. I hope she and her team are crafting strong responses about what her role in border security actually was, because that’s a solid question sure to come up in any interview, and the answer is actually fairly simple. People have a mistaken remembrance of what she was tasked to do, and a shortfall of press to discuss her achievements. She needs a smooth, pithy way to point to what she was directed to do and what she accomplished, and counting people crossing the Rio Grande was not part of it. What is interesting is that Harris has managed to set herself up a the change candidate even though she’s part of the current administration. The Republicans are desperately trying to link Harris to all Biden’s struggles and missteps or victories that they disapprove, because the want to tarnish her image any way they can. But by her complete shift in tone from Biden’s campaign and the youthful, joyous energy, she’s succeeding in setting up that she will have her own stamp on her administration. Trump focusing on policy only really works with republicans, because we’ve seen his policies and his method of presidenting. (Golf, midnight tweets, ignoring security briefings and leaking state secrets to Russia, insulting his opponents while praising dictators and white supremacists.) For Trump to win, Harris will have to fail to address the questions about her border security role, will have to fail to show the Palestinian supporters she’s working hard to stop the dying, and will have to stumble enough with independents in battleground states. Or Trump will have to do something remarkable that brings out every possible Trump voter while using shenanigans to obstruct Harris voters. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1345 "2024-08-26T20:04:47Z")
Are you saying that you don’t think he is? ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1346 "2024-08-26T20:06:50Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I don’t know. I listened to someone (maybe the republican analyst) saying that if Trump sticks to policy then the election is his to win because Harris is campaigning on feeling - joy. She hasn’t laid out detailed policy and hasn’t given any interviews or press conferences where she faces hard questions. I think this is the strategy they’re currently employing, namely, the idea that Harris doesn’t have a coherent policy and is campaigning on “joy”. I’ve seen the idea bandied about on some social media feeds from some conservatives I know. Of course, it’s factually untrue, but that part is unimportant. The real question is whether or not they get any more traction from it than anything else they’ve tried so far. Seems like maybe not, at least outside the MAGA bubble, but maybe it just needs time to percolate with the general public. We’ll just have to see. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1347 "2024-08-26T20:07:19Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > This is probably the 100th time you’ve posted this or something much like it over the past 3 or so months, in various threads. At what point does it strike you that it’s wishful thinking? How many times have posters falsely claimed Biden is in cognitive decline? At least with trump, it is pretty obvious something is going on. As I am not a real doctor, and I have not personally examined him either, I wont make any such outlandish claims that trump is in cognitive decline, but he is babbling more than usual. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1348 "2024-08-26T20:12:05Z")
It’s not outlandish. The Really American channel on YouTube has a podcast with two clinical psychologists that point which of Trump’s glitches are associated with dementia: https://www.youtube.com/embed/-QaWN1Vzu_0?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1349 "2024-08-26T20:15:44Z")
… my kingdom for the collective discipline to discern objective news sources from shameless wish-fulfillment clickbait. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1350 "2024-08-26T20:17:43Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > It’s not outlandish. The Really American channel on YouTube has a podcast with two clinical psychologists that point which of Trump’s glitches are associated with dementia: Well, they _are_ medical experts- but few medical experts will diagnose without actually examining and testing the patient. I respect their opinion, but it is just an opinion, not a diagnoses. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1351 "2024-08-26T20:29:39Z")
They can identify certain things via video as definitely being due to dementia. They say so with complete confidence. They also do say that, 100%, Trump is a malignant narcissist. The Goldwater Rule has been more of an ethical consideration than a scientific one. > **[Goldwater Rule](https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/goldwater-rule)** > > goldwater rule ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1352 "2024-08-26T20:30:02Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > … my kingdom for the collective discipline to discern objective news sources from shameless wish-fulfillment clickbait. No lies detected. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1353 "2024-08-26T20:30:03Z")
Are you referring to something in particular? ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1354 "2024-08-26T20:37:04Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Are you saying that you don’t think he is? I don’t think he is to the level of drooling decrepitude that you’re seeing. Even the Kos article you cite only includes quotes that he’s “slowed down” and is “much lower energy” not that he’s in “severe cognitive decline.” ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1355 "2024-08-26T20:45:04Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, they _are_ medical experts- but few medical experts will diagnose without actually examining and testing the patient. I respect their opinion, but it is just an opinion, not a diagnoses. I’ve read where dementia is one of the few defects where a diagnosis is primarily based on observation. Family interviews, MRIs, etc., can augment the diagnosis, but the primary tool is watching the patient and concluding, “Yeah, that’s dementia.” Trump has provided a treasure trove of video diagnostic evidence. I’ll see if I can find the cite if that sounds wrong. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1356 "2024-08-26T20:46:43Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > It’s not outlandish. The Really American channel on YouTube has a podcast with two clinical psychologists that point which of Trump’s glitches are associated with dementia: But we have no idea who these two people are, or how to judge their credibility. Their channel seems to be aimed specifically at waging psychological warfare against Trump. So I might question the objectivity of their clinical analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1357 "2024-08-26T20:50:19Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > I don’t think he is to the level of drooling decrepitude that you’re seeing. In this thread, several people have enjoyed creating quotes and descriptions that I haven’t used and that mischaracterize what I have actually said. “Drooling” sounds as though he is sitting in a corner, unable to engage with the world. Rather, I mean that he literally is showing signs of dementia, while this is also accurate: > [@](#): > > Even the Kos article you cite only includes quotes that he’s “slowed down” and is “much lower energy” […] Yes, quite a bit. And this trend is fairly recent and seems to be accelerating quickly. Is he campaigning differently than he did in the past? Absolutely. Both quantitatively and qualitatively. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1358 "2024-08-26T20:53:56Z")
> [@flurb](#): > > But we have no idea who these two people are, or how to judge their credibility. They tell you who they are, and I’m sure you could google them and get further information. > [@](#): > > Their channel seems to be aimed specifically at waging psychological warfare against Trump. So I might question the objectivity of their clinical analysis. It’s not objective, nor are they sympathetic to the patient and trying to help him. They do try to be accurate, however, and point out also what Trump is doing right and how he can be strong as well as weak. Further, I have not seen anyone try to rebut what they’ve been saying. If what they are saying is wrong, other doctors can comment. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1359 "2024-08-26T21:24:14Z")
**Moderating** : Links for Fundraising are not allowed without prior permission from Staff. In general we avoid such. Please don’t just link to sites, we’re not really up on trying to verify. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2024, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1360 "2024-08-26T21:26:13Z")
Sorry about that. It was a link to an organization called Rideshare2vote. I should have just mentioned the name of the organization, without the direct link. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351.md?page=67) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351.md?page=69)