# 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:** 82
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1621 "2024-09-01T18:26:33Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > So I’m still left with, why are decent people willing to support an evil candidate? Because they believe in magic. Trump has a magical power to make eggs cheaper. Nevermind his actual tariff policies that are going to make life a lot more expensive. Trump has the power to declare problems out of existence and that is all that matters to some people. He tells them their problem is solved and all of a sudden it is solved. Magic. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1622 "2024-09-01T18:31:52Z")
I’ve long realized that many/most people do not seem to share my interest in why prople who think differently than I do think as they do. Hell, most people seem to not even put too much thought into why THEY think as they do, such that I have no expectation that they would think much about opposing viewpoints. Another guy in my 4-some - extremely smart, liberal, very good friend of mine. But he said he was undecided. I said that really surprised me. He clarified that he KNEW he wasn’t going to vote for Trump, but was going to wait until after the debate to decide whether to vote for Harris. Granted, this is Illinois, so it doesn’t really matter. But I said, “Don’t you have enough information to perceive the difference between the two. What could possibly happen in a debate to change your mind?” The 4th guy had just gotten back from Spain. He said everyone he met asked him variants of, “Is it true that Trump could possibly win? How could Americans want that to happen?” Yeah, we have some good conversations every Sunday morning! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1623 "2024-09-01T18:32:25Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Because they believe in magic. Trump has a magical power to make eggs cheaper. Nevermind his actual tariff policies that are going to make life a lot more expensive. Trump has the power to declare problems out of existence and that is all that matters to some people. The world is complex, and getting more complex every day, to the point that most of us don’t really understand why the economy works the way it does, what vaccines really do, what the real reason is for the immigration and border issue, etc., etc. I think that that complexity, and difficulty in understanding today’s world, is why some people are attracted to the idea of taking the U.S. back to a simpler, easier-to-understand, and somehow “better” time. It’s also why Trump’s messaging resonates so strongly with them. In effect, he says, “The liberal so-called ‘experts’ say it’s complicated, but it’s really not. Fixing the price of eggs, or immigration, or whatever, is actually really simple, and I ((sometimes “only I”)) know how to do it.” ---
**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:** [September 1, 2024, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1624 "2024-09-01T18:33:14Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > > [@Chingon](#): > > > > I guess this is the point of the thread where our enlightened centrists claim that being too “mean” in a message board will cause Donald Trump to win. > > My concern is that the attitude and language used here will carry over into how others interact IRL. If you dehumanize the opposition in your mind, that can’t help but affect how you treat them. My guess is that most anti-Trumpers do what I do: not associate with Trumpers. > [@](#): > > If you want to go around cursing and spitting at people all the time for blame by association, that’s your choice for how to live your life. I would maybe flip the above-mentioned “Trumpers on the corner in public” the bird, but I would not accost someone just wearing a MAGA hat. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1625 "2024-09-01T18:48:59Z")
i understand i wont sway your opinion. You tell me those 2 are not facist or racist. Since i don’t know them can you explain the difference _to me_ between them and fascist racists? I don’t care how the duck walks, talks or quacks. If it votes Trump it is a racist duck that supports a fascist. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1626 "2024-09-01T18:52:10Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > > [@Dinsdale](#): > > > > But you are not going to convince me that these 2 people, whom I know quite well and you do not, are evil, fascist racists. So I’m still left with, why are decent people willing to support an evil candidate? > > Because, by his own quote, they’re upset they have to pay $4 for a dozen eggs. What gets me about this (the RWNJ lie about the economy) is that I suspect the price of eggs (or groceries in general) is not of particular concern to either of these gentlemen. The only reason they “know” that eggs were $1.85 when Trump was president and are $4 now is because that is what they have been told. If, four years ago, you had asked them how much eggs cost, they not only would not have been able to tell you, but likely would have been insulted by your implication that they were not rich and/or important enough to make the cost of groceries something they should be concerned about. I’m sure if they had been asked if the price of groceries was a problem for them in their day-to-day lives, they would have responded that no, they could handle it, but some people aren’t as comfortable as they are, and those people are who they are concerned about. Yeah, Republicans are concerned about poor people. Another one of their lies. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1627 "2024-09-01T18:55:40Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Since i don’t know them can you explain the difference _to me_ between them and fascist racists? You tell me what makes a fascist or a racist? Neither of them have ever told me I ought to think or act differently than I do. Two other of our group are further to the left than I, and are among the father’s closest decades-long friends. I have never heard them tell a racist joke, tho they do disfavor uncontrolled immigration. And I’ve never heard any of the Black, hispanic, Japanese, or filipino guys we regularly golf with year after year say an unfavorable word about them. So, how do I identify them as racist/fascist? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1628 "2024-09-01T19:03:13Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > So, how do I identify them as racist/fascist? They’re supporting and voting for a racist fascist. I don’t care if they’re nice to dogs and children. Supporting a fascist makes you a fascist, even if you don’t talk about it in polite company. Maybe you need a better class of friends. Full disclosure - I cut off all contact with every Trump supporting family member (including my birth father), friend, and acquaintance after 2016. I have never regretted it; those people suck. I fully expect the next time I see my birth father will be at his funeral. The man was always a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1629 "2024-09-01T19:06:02Z")
Boy, some of you sure seem to live in simple, black and white worlds. Funny, but I prefer the company - and conversational style - of my friends. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1630 "2024-09-01T19:07:10Z")
I’m glad for you. In my case, I can not associate with people that (even if they don’t personally feel that way) support politicians that look at the people I love as less than human. They may not personally hold those beliefs, but they’re fine with voting for people who do. That makes them just as bad. Worse even. –edited, this was too strong for this forum– ---
**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:** [September 1, 2024, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1631 "2024-09-01T19:10:55Z")
---
**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:** [September 1, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1632 "2024-09-01T19:12:59Z")
**Moderating** : @mozchron & @Dinsdale This little back and forth really is not on topic anyway. Both of you please drop it. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1633 "2024-09-01T19:26:13Z")
This topic was automatically opened after 15 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1634 "2024-09-01T19:26:30Z")
Sorry i’ll drop it here. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1635 "2024-09-01T19:39:56Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Is it your estimation that your cutting off your sister makes her less likely to vote for Trump? I can get how your own mental health may be served by insulating yourself from what you feel are toxic family interactions (don’t get me going about my sisters!) but to the thread subject, does your sister having even less exposure to perspectives other than her own help ensure Trump gets fewer votes, or fight against fascism? ETA just saw mod note not sure I can reply ---
**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:** [September 1, 2024, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1636 "2024-09-01T19:42:18Z")
**Moderating** : Really is off-topic in the the end. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1637 "2024-09-01T20:13:31Z")
Got it ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1638 "2024-09-01T22:05:54Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > In one sense they’re only 3 or 4 voters. But enthusiasm is catching. And their enthusiasm is very much self-evident while there is exactly zero evidence of Harris’ existence anywhere in our very purple town. Not specific to you, but I’d been thinking about this because it’s been bugging me lately. Republican enthusiasm is good because of the above. Democratic enthusiasm is bad because it encourages complacency. Most world governments inclined to interfere with our elections do so for Republicans. Republicans can just wave a magic wand and get crowds of voters while Democrats have to beg. And then there’s the often discussed systemic bias. It’s really frustrating when the entire system is inclined, naturally and otherwise, towards oppression and fascism. ---
**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:** [September 1, 2024, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1639 "2024-09-01T22:25:55Z")
With all due respect… > [@Leaper](#): > > Republican enthusiasm is good because of the above. Republican enthusiasm seems muted. Trump’s crowds are small, Vance’s virtually nonexistent. People here have commented about the lack of Trump signs where there used to be many. > [@](#): > > Democratic enthusiasm is bad because it encourages complacency. A product of PTSD, IMHO. Even on kos, there have been diaries about this, to the effect that, “No, guys, we’re doing great and it’s OK to say it!” > [@](#): > > Most world governments inclined to interfere with our elections do so for Republicans. Yeah, because they’re evil governments trying to weaken the US. > [@](#): > > Republicans can just wave a magic wand and get crowds of voters while Democrats have to beg. I talked about GOP crowds above (not great), but Harris and Walz have been drawing huge numbers. No begging required. > [@](#): > > And then there’s the often discussed systemic bias. If you mean the Electoral College, then yes, I hate it too, and it sucks. > [@](#): > > It’s really frustrating when the entire system is inclined, naturally and otherwise, towards oppression and fascism. It’s not, IMHO. It’s a rearguard effort that has affected not just the US but many other countries (e.g., Brexit in the UK, Marine Le Pen in France, Burlusconi in Italy, those assholes in Brazil, Turkey, Hungary, etc. I’d say Putin too, but he’s his own kind of thing.). It’s the last gasp of a dying philosophy. We are going to win, and we and the young people of today, who “get it” more than any previous generation, are going to make a better world. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2024, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351/1640 "2024-09-01T22:32:43Z")
I agree w all you’ve said above. Except this: > [@Leaper](#): > > Democratic enthusiasm is bad because it encourages complacency. The complacency concern is mostly an SDMB thing and it comes from people expressing their enthusiasm by crowing “We’re going to WIN!!1!” when the enthusiasm we need is “We’re going to be publicly demonstrative everywhere all the time to drum up even more support!!1!”. When people here say they’re afraid to have a yard sign or speak out against a beerhall blowhard, well … in the immortal words if somebody back around 9/11: the terrorists have already won Also don’t forget that you’re a catastrophising depressive. I don’t mean to be unkind or offensive, but that built-in bias gives you a distorted understanding of reality as seen by the huge majority of more typical folks. The world _should_ suck less than it does. It _could_ suck less with minor revisions to human nature that would enable major revisions to society. But it sucks less than your default opinion of it. As impossible as that is for someone of your mind type to really grok. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351.md?page=81) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-donald-trump-win-at-this-point/1005351.md?page=83)