# 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:** 71
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1401 "2024-08-28T14:54:04Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Anyway, RFK doesn’t want to be Vice President. He wants a cabinet position where he can destroy the FDA. He can campaign for Trump without being on the ticket. Yep. Trump wins and you can kiss the entire vaccination program in the USA goodbye. The resultant spike in child deaths can be blamed on chemtrails or flouride in the water or some-such. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1402 "2024-08-28T14:54:29Z")
Yea, and that PA +1.9 is being driven by a Dem-leaning poll. Out of the 6 polls driving the Pennsylvania prediction, 4 of them have Trump leading (by a tiny bit). One has them tied. And one has Harris up by 2.2%. PA is a tie at best at the moment. Keep working! ---
**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 28, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1403 "2024-08-28T14:57:03Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > way too soon to conclusively call Pennsylvania for Trump… Understatement of the year! ---
**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 28, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1404 "2024-08-28T15:42:42Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Wait, oops: those are from 2020. Oops, he lost in 2020. ---
**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 28, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1405 "2024-08-28T15:43:54Z")
This will help Trump’s campaign for sure: > **[Trump’s Arlington stunt should be a campaign-ending disgrace](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/8/28/2266259/-Trump-s-Arlington-stunt-should-be-a-campaign-ending-disgrace?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=top_news_slot_1&pm_medium=web)** > > Members of Donald Trump’s campaign engaged in an altercation at Arlington National Cemetery on Monday that, in any normal year, would be a wall-to-wall scandal. It was part of a political stunt ... ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1406 "2024-08-28T15:46:25Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Oops, he lost in 2020. For sure. I don’t question that. I question whether it’s an action that could “lead to a complete implosion, in which suddenly everyone has given up on Trump’s campaign at once.” ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1407 "2024-08-28T15:54:00Z")
Thanks for sharing that. My cousin Danny is a proud veteran. He was pro Trump. I don’t know if he still is. We’re friends on Facebook and I just shared the article along with some commentary. I hope it makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1408 "2024-08-28T16:17:44Z")
Over in RWNJ land, people post these things and they just say “Fake News” and move on. It doesn’t do much. The photo of Trump giving the thumbs-up at the soldier’s grave? Photoshopped. ---
**Author:** ![CoolHandCox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coolhandcox/32/16233_2.png) [@CoolHandCox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CoolHandCox)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1409 "2024-08-28T16:35:57Z")
Here is the NYT reporting on this: > An official with the cemetery tried to “physically block” members of Mr. Trump’s team, Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, said in a statement. **Mr. Cheung added that the cemetery official was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode” and that the campaign was prepared to release footage of the confrontation to support its account of the clash. The campaign did not provide that footage after several requests.** > > Chris LaCivita, a top Trump campaign adviser, added in a separate statement that the cemetery official was “a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery.” It doesn’t say, but I’d guess Trump’s team saying someone clearly suffers from “mental health” issues just means that person is female. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1410 "2024-08-28T16:51:15Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > It doesn’t say, but I’d guess Trump’s team saying someone clearly suffers from “mental health” issues just means that person is female. Steven Cheung is becoming recognizable to me as the worst of the worst, the guy that says the shit that’s too obnoxious for Trump to say. He’s deeply rotten, and thrives on being deeply rotten. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1411 "2024-08-28T18:17:27Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > complete implosion Reports of Trump’s complete implosion have, like Twain’s death in that day, been somewhat exaggerated? He may be increasingly cognitively impaired. Or not. Internet diagnoses of dementia duly noted. But he is not going to suddenly become any more a mass of gibberish than his baseline. And his support will not go much below its current floor. ---
**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 28, 2024, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1412 "2024-08-28T18:54:48Z")
Re: implosion. It’s already the case that Trump is panicking about his chances and behaving in ways that further hurt his chances (vicious cycle). It’s already the case that surrogates are suggesting that he change his approach by appearing on Fox News and other media. And it’s already the case that he is being denounced by fellow Republicans in a trickle but not a flood. So we’re in a situation in which you can hear the popping of rivets and the groaning of panels, but the hull of the submarine is still holding. Collectively, the GOP is still in “save Trump to save ourselves mode.” One reason that they have been in this mode (or it’s predecessor, “promote Trump to promote ourselves”) is that the punishment for not doing so was banishment from the party and the end of one’s political career. The implosion occurs when they stop doing that and go into “just fucking save ourselves mode.” Now, that may not happen. Trump seems to be getting worse at a rapid pace, but his condition may stabilize, and he may make it to the election with his line of defense intact. Or it may be that, despite his getting worse, his current defenders decide that their only option is to grin and bear it; i.e., that distancing themselves from Trump won’t help them. But there is a lot of downside potential ahead for Trump, including the debate(s), his sentencing in New York, and many, many opportunities to demonstrate his current lunacy to the public. I certainly don’t see any upside. An implosion of the type I describe may very well occur. ---
**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 28, 2024, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1413 "2024-08-28T18:59:24Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > But he is not going to suddenly become any more a mass of gibberish than his baseline. And his support will not go much below its current floor. I came up with a term! I think I did it! SPP: self-protective pessimism. I mean, why are you making the statements above with such apparent confidence? If the SPP shoe were on the other foot and you were a Republican wanting Trump to succeed, wouldn’t you be tempted to think, “This crazy mutherfucker is going to lose it all for us!”? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1414 "2024-08-28T19:17:32Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > So we’re in a situation in which you can hear the popping of rivets and the groaning of panels, but the hull of the submarine is still holding. I’ve been hearing those fucking rivetpops for nigh on eight years now. I’ll believe in the implosion when I see the twisted detritus of the Titrumpic drifting in the waves. I WANT it to happen. I desperately want it. But I’ve been wanting it for eight years, and I’ve learned not to hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1415 "2024-08-28T19:18:43Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I’ve been hearing those fucking rivetpops for nigh on eight years now. I’ll believe in the implosion when I see the twisted detritus of the Titrumpic floating in the waves. At this point it’s more like the sound of an old house settling. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1416 "2024-08-28T19:20:40Z")
Exactly it. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1417 "2024-08-28T19:38:51Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Trump seems to be getting worse at a rapid pace, but his condition may stabilize, and he may make it to the election with his line of defense intact. Donald Trump is, I believe, the most famous person in the world. And people, especially American voters, have made up their mind about him. Kamala Harris is, even now, less well known. I think that at this point, the race is hers to lose. She has been gaffe-free lately, which is good, because any gaffe she makes will damage her more than a Trump gaffe. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1418 "2024-08-28T19:40:16Z")
Oh in other aspects of my life I am certainly the “optimistic pessimist”: I hope for the best but am expecting and prepared for the worst. I’d always rather be ready and pleasantly surprised with the outcome. This case though? It is just recognition of obvious reality. I am very hopeful of a Harris win. Maybe even a solid one. I don’t rule that out. But a Trump implosion? I see zero evidence of that. His floor remains bedrock solid. He won’t lose very much more. His supporters don’t care how confused he is. How inappropriate he is. They don’t. The possible sizable victory is contingent not on his implosion but by Harris having a ceiling higher than we have so far seen, pulling over the low information and otherwise undecided voters while inspiring both good D turnout and not inspiring strong R turnout. Maybe she can do that, and if so she wins big. But if so it is more by what she does as actions more than by any Trump implosion. The Titan submersible he is not. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1419 "2024-08-28T19:42:33Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > There is speculation, however, that he could replace Vance on the ticket. RFKjr replacing Vance is slightly more plausible than Harris and the Royal Family being secret Lizard people, and Michelle being born a man. > [@DSeid](#): > > Harris and Walz campaigning in GA today. What happened to Stacey Abrams? Will she be campaigning also? > [@Aeschines](#): > > This will help Trump’s campaign for sure: I never thought that desecration of graves would actually be on trumps bucket list. Damn, wrong again. Just when you think they can go no lower- they do it. I still have “child sacrifice” open on my GOP Bingo card… ---
**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:** [August 28, 2024, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1420 "2024-08-28T19:45:36Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > Mr. Cheung added that the cemetery official was “clearly suffering from a mental health episode” This cemetery official should sue the ass off of Mr. Cheung for defamation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351.md?page=70) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351.md?page=72)