# How far do you think a candidate openly campaigning with white supremacist beliefs could get today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 15, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682 "2019-08-15T02:31:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/21 "2019-08-15T15:41:31Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > We already have the answer to this. Yep. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/22 "2019-08-15T15:50:32Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I have always felt that this is a vastly underused strategy. Whatever one is accused of, freely and openly admit to it, no matter how outrageous or false the accusation is. > > To a degree, our current occupant covertly uses this strategy. The underlying message being, “Yeah, so what are you going to do about it?” Which, as we have observed, leaves the opposition wringing their hands and furrowing their brows and being outraged and and and … It can also be dressed up as “telling it like it is,” so that it almost becomes seen as a virtue. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/23 "2019-08-15T16:08:58Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I believe it started when Clinton got elected. If you were a little older, you would have seen the same effect when Reagan promoted “Morning in America” after the reputedly awful Carter years. It appears to be axiomatic on the Right that when ever there is a D in the Whitehouse that the country needs to be “rescued” and brought back to greatness. With Obama there was the additional high dudgeon of him being, well, “not like us, donchaknow!” ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/24 "2019-08-15T16:11:49Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > I have always felt that this is a vastly underused strategy. Whatever one is accused of, freely and openly admit to it, no matter how outrageous or false the accusation is. Having recently called out McConnell as “Moscow Mitch”, I think it’s high time Pelosi took a cue from LBJ and accused Trump of being a “Pig-fucker”. > [@Icarus](#): > > To a degree, our current occupant covertly uses this strategy. The underlying message being, “Yeah, so what are you going to do about it?” Which, as we have observed, leaves the opposition wringing their hands and furrowing their brows and being outraged and and and … Democrats are so nice, I suspect they are secretly Canadians. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/25 "2019-08-15T16:20:25Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > We already have the answer to this. This is 100% correct. We already have our answer. White supremacists won’t campaign on white supremacy alone, and they will occasionally temper the rhetoric to appear palatable, but the Trump presidency has openly campaigned on white supremacy since he came down the escalator in June of 2015. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/26 "2019-08-15T16:24:21Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > This is 100% correct. > > We already have our answer. White supremacists won’t campaign on white supremacy alone, and they will occasionally temper the rhetoric to appear palatable, but the Trump presidency has openly campaigned on white supremacy since he came down the escalator in June of 2015. I still don’t think this fits the OP’s criteria, though. Trump is the kind of racist who doesn’t really embrace the label, or is halfhearted about this stuff. He’s only a 50% type whereas \*\*Leaper \*\*is asking about 100% types. The OP is positing someone is full-bore, proud of it, I-_ **like** _-to-be-called racist racist. Trump is weak sauce compared to that. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/27 "2019-08-15T16:28:05Z")
> [@Unreconstructed\_Man](#): > > An open racist wouldn’t get anywhere, because the people voting for him would necessarily have to admit to themselves that they’re also racist. And most racists don’t believe themselves to be racist. Most people don’t want to believe they are fascists but they can be easily convinced that fascism is a legitimate alternative to democracy. Just don’t call it fascism - call it alternative democracy. Same is true of racism. People are very easily tricked to fall for the illusions and fears as characterized by authoritarians. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/28 "2019-08-15T16:30:48Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > If you were a little older, you would have seen the same effect when Reagan promoted “Morning in America” after the reputedly awful Carter years. > > It appears to be axiomatic on the Right that when ever there is a D in the Whitehouse that the country needs to be “rescued” and brought back to greatness. With Obama there was the additional high dudgeon of him being, well, “not like us, donchaknow!” Especially the 5 million Obama-Trump voters, no? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/29 "2019-08-15T16:41:14Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I believe it started when Clinton got elected. Surely the downturn began earlier, when Republican paragon Richard M. Nixon—guilty of nothing more than being a lying criminal who got caught—resigned from the presidency rather than digging in his heels and telling the libs to suck it. May we never again return to such dark and shameful times. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/30 "2019-08-15T16:43:54Z")
“Openly”? He might make sheriff or town councilman, if the town was small enough. I am pretty sure the SDMB and progressives in general have a different definition of “openly” than I do. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/31 "2019-08-15T16:50:02Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > If you were a little older, you would have seen the same effect when Reagan promoted “Morning in America” after the reputedly awful Carter years. … Yup, I missed Carter’s crisis of confidence, thankfully. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/32 "2019-08-15T16:50:50Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I still don’t think this fits the OP’s criteria, though. Trump is the kind of racist who doesn’t really embrace the label, or is halfhearted about this stuff. He’s only a 50% type whereas \*\*Leaper \*\*is asking about 100% types. > > The OP is positing someone is full-bore, proud of it, I-_ **like** _-to-be-called racist racist. Trump is weak sauce compared to that. Steve King then. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/33 "2019-08-15T16:51:13Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I am pretty sure the SDMB and progressives in general have a different definition of “openly” than I do. Fair point; we do use it when we mean “obviously”. Does that make a difference? ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/34 "2019-08-15T16:56:33Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > If you were a little older, you would have seen the same effect when Reagan promoted “Morning in America” after the reputedly awful Carter years. And if you’re as old as I am, you can remember when Nixon rescued America from the clutches of Lyndon Johnson. ---
**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:** [August 15, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/35 "2019-08-15T17:04:12Z")
I feel the path for a white supremacist to the White House would be the racial realist route. Don’t come out and just say white people are better. Cherry pick some facts that lead to that conclusion and ignore any facts that refute your position. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/36 "2019-08-15T17:11:53Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Don’t come out and just say white people are better. Cherry pick some facts that lead to that conclusion and ignore any facts that refute your position. Examples: > [@](#): > > When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. and > [@](#): > > "I think Islam hates us … We can’t allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States and of people that are not Muslim.” and many, many others. ---
**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 15, 2019, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/37 "2019-08-15T17:29:01Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > [Pantone 137 C](https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/137-C) Henceforth, this shall be my new nickname for Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/38 "2019-08-15T17:37:57Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Examples: > > > [@](#): > > > > When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. > > and > > > [@](#): > > > > "I think Islam hates us … We can’t allow people coming into this country who have this hatred of the United States and of people that are not Muslim.” Interesting that you feel that these are examples of facts, however cherry-picked. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/39 "2019-08-15T17:42:19Z")
Well, you can’t get much more openly white supremacist than [Republican congressional candidate Arthur J. Jones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_J._Jones), who ran most recently as the only Republican candidate for Illinois’ 3rd congressional district. > [@](#): > > His candidacy was repudiated by the Illinois Republican Party and the Republican National Committee. […] Despite the GOP disavowing, 26.5 percent of voters still voted for him in the general election on November 6, 2018, as he lost by 47 points. […] > > Jones is a white nationalist and Holocaust denier. […] Jones has attended many rallies commemorating Adolf Hitler or supporting white supremacy. Jones considers himself a “white racialist” […] > > In 2016 he was a supporter of Donald Trump for president. Jones said in an interview then, “I agree with a lot of what Mr. Trump has to say […] He’s his own man. I like the fact that doesn’t have to go hat in hand to Jewish billionaires to get money”. In February 2018, Jones nonetheless said President Trump “surrounded himself with hordes of Jews”, and regrets his 2016 vote. For a guy like that to get over a quarter of the vote is concerning, though his overall lack of success suggests that his platform’s not that popular. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682/40 "2019-08-15T18:09:16Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Interesting that you feel that these are examples of facts, however cherry-picked. Ask the guy who stated them as facts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-do-you-think-a-candidate-openly-campaigning-with-white-supremacist-beliefs-could-get-today/838682.md?page=3)