# How is trump still a viable candidate for president? Really, how? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [May 12, 2023, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949 "2023-05-12T14:28:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 53
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1044 "2024-02-22T19:15:28Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Fans of Roddenberry speak of this in terms of his business acumen, but it always came off as a dick move to me. I’ve never heard any fans praise him for this. Pretty much everyone says it was a dick move. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1045 "2024-02-22T19:53:15Z")
My apologies, but I did not mean to hijack the thread with Roddenberry discussion. We should probably cease Roddenberry discussions or beam them to another thread before a moderator decides we’re more tribble than we’re worth and goes all Klingon on us. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1046 "2024-02-22T19:54:15Z")
Well, for conservatives, is there some other larger than life billionaire who would make a more viable candidate? People on this board are largely liberals and progressives so you tend to have a blind spot when it comes to figuring out how people who don’t use logic and reason or don’t share you morality of “being fair and just to others” work. So let me give a hypothetical example. My wife and I rent out our old 1BR apartment to earn some extra money. Let’s say our tenant decides to stop paying rent. According to traditional wisdom, we would have the tenant tossed out on their ass after some appropriate due process and find a new tenant. Well according to the Liberal Agenda, as fed to conservatives by Fox News, etc: - In the first place, we are white, automatically making us horrible people. Me in particular because I also identify as a man (as I am still in possession of a penis, most likely the one I was born with). - We are capitalist monsters as we earn enough income to oppress others through owning rental property. - It is unfair to kick out our black, transexual, undocumented illegal immigrant tenant just because they lost their job and spend all their money on illegal drugs. - We shouldn’t even be allowed to inquire about a potential tenants immigration status or source of income. - We should be taxed at a higher rate in order to subsidize people like our tenant who are disadvantaged and can’t pay rent - The defunded police won’t remove this deadbeat tenant for fear of woke media backlash - I’m racist for even implying this arrangement is unfair - The only reason I have a job in the first place is because of The Patriarchy - We wouldn’t need my wife to work or have to have additional sources of income if Liberals didn’t keep taxing us to pay for immigrants, foreign interests, and gay shit So as a true red-blooded America conservative, if Trump says he will put an end to this nonsense, I might be inclined to support him. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1047 "2024-02-22T21:25:02Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > A Fox broadcaster talked about how saavy Trump was at merchandising referring to his new shoes. Because that is so important for a presidential candidate. /s If Trump wins, maybe the _best_ that we could hope for is that future elections come down to who can sell the most merchandise. There would be fierce competition between their marketing campaigns. In the end, one would win and the other would be fired from political life. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1048 "2024-02-22T21:49:28Z")
As a Canadian my experiences and input are limited. As a liberal, somewhat progressive, somewhat libertarian, I have my own opinions. I extensively solicit a wide variety of viewpoints. I don’t agree with many of them, but am reasonably informed why many prefer Trump to Biden. “Woke” can certainly be taken too far. And not everyone is exposed to a plurality of views. What still baffles me, however, are the assumptions executive politicians, particularly Presidents, should be above the law, or that the law is essentially unimportant, or that elements of dictatorship are more desirable than democracy. One had hoped Washington had been an exemplar. These aren’t new conflicts, of course, but contemporary America seems to lack a modern Pisistratus or even a Gracchus. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1049 "2024-03-01T00:37:21Z")
He’s slip-sliding away: > Trump: People who don’t speak languages. We have languages coming in to our country, nobody that speaks those languages. They’re truly foreign languages. Nobody speaks them > ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1050 "2024-03-01T00:44:48Z")
C’mon? You’re not curious where the unknown countries are on the planet Trump complained about are? ---
**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:** [March 1, 2024, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1051 "2024-03-01T00:50:00Z")
They speak so many languages in Unknownistan, we don’t need those languages coming here. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1052 "2024-03-01T03:43:37Z")
This cartoon was in my local paper today. > **[Andy Marlette for 2/28/2024](https://www.arcamax.com/politics/editorialcartoons/andymarlette/s-3136969)** > > Liberal leaning editorial cartoonist Andy Marlette ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1053 "2024-03-01T03:45:16Z")
Here’s another explanation: [Democrats’ “What, Me Worry?” Approach to Losing Working Class Voters](https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/against-democrats-what-me-worry-approach) > [@](#): > > As I have noted, because we now live in [the Upside Down](https://www.polygon.com/stranger-things/23191189/stranger-things-upside-down-explained), Democrats reliably win the college-educated but lose the working class. That means that, _given the disproportion between the two groups_ , Democrats need to win the college-educated by way more than they lose the working class to win elections. That is mathematically possible [but very challenging](https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/the-coming-working-class-election?utm_source=profile&utm_medium=reader2)—and the worse the working-class deficit gets the more challenging it becomes. In this interpretation, the GOP has become so strong among the white non-college educated demographic that even an unpopular Republican, in this case Donald Trump, will have a good chance for victory. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1054 "2024-03-01T03:56:16Z")
The problem is that Trump appeals to lower-educated individuals because he promises easy fixes, and that they have to do nothing other than elect him for it to happen. Zero sacrifices and effort for a perfect world, because after all someone else (Mexico! China! Etc) will pay for it. 100% bullshit, but comforting and easy! IN GENERAL (lots of different specifics) Democrats promise they can fix problems, but it’ll be long, hard, or -gasp- require _changes_ on part of the population (electric vehicles, different energy resources, recycling, etc). So, yeah, the Democrats could promise all sorts of stupid, nonsensical, quick fixes (and some do, such as “well just tax all those rich folks!” without considering the huge political problems there) but they would be right back to promising stuff they cannot deliver. Not to mention, the endless Republican hate-mongering. I’ll say this with a heavy heart, but I’m not sure that winning at that cost is much better than losing and finding myself in Christian Flavored version of American fast approaching a pre-WW2 German level of Love it or Leave it, Right Until You Can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1055 "2024-03-01T05:32:20Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > In this interpretation, the GOP has become so strong among the white non-college educated demographic that even an unpopular Republican, in this case Donald Trump, will have a good chance for victory. This shouldn’t come to a surprise to anyone. For many years, a common refrain from Democratic supporters has been, “Why do the working class vote against their own interests?” For whatever reason, Democrats have had difficulty getting through to those voters. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1056 "2024-03-01T08:13:50Z")
Racism. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1057 "2024-03-01T11:54:58Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Racism. Ruby Tiexeira.does a good, albeit hard-to-summarize, job of questioning this in Section 1 of [my last link](https://www.liberalpatriot.com/p/against-democrats-what-me-worry-approach). Tiexeira explains there the “just world belief” of many Obama-2016 Trump voters. While the way they describe the racism they oppose is different from the way pure progressives describe racism, calling these voters racist is simplistic and a good way to push them out of Joe Biden’s coalition. ---
**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:** [March 1, 2024, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1058 "2024-03-01T12:56:38Z")
Wordle 986 5/6 ⬜⬜⬜🟨🟨 🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜ ⬜🟩🟨⬜🟨 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 HEART TRUMP thank goodness that wasn’t it STICK VOTER FORTY ---
**Author:** ![TeroSunbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terosunbear/32/14748_2.png) [@TeroSunbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeroSunbear)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1059 "2024-03-01T13:13:42Z")
I was always puzzled by this. How does speaking unknown languages make them more threatening? Perhaps Trump is actually trying to say that we are getting illegals and assylum patients from all corners of the world? ---
**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:** [March 1, 2024, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1060 "2024-03-01T13:40:45Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > Perhaps Trump is actually trying to say that we are getting illegals and assylum patients from all corners of the world? Yes. It’s a little like how some people in my town express fear of “people moving here from Chicago,” when what they’re really afraid of is Black people. Still, I think Biden and his supporters should make TV ads showing how Trump is such a fraidy-cat, so weak, so pathetic, that he’s _afraid of languages._ ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1061 "2024-03-01T14:08:11Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > How does speaking unknown languages make them more threatening? Because they could be openly talking about Destroying America and Loving Gay People, and we would never know it! But seriously, yes, people worry about shit like that. Cite: every video every made of an American Idiot telling people speaking a different language to shut up and speak English. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1062 "2024-03-01T14:19:52Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Still, I think Biden and his supporters should make TV ads showing how Trump is such a fraidy-cat, so weak, so pathetic, that he’s _afraid of languages._ One reason Trump is viable is that potential supporters hear the crazy stuff he says and give him the gift of interpreting it into something that sounds normal. And I think this language statement works like that. So, if inclined, one could point out that schools, and government agencies, have a lot of experience with the Spanish-speaking public. Uncommon languages will present additional challenges. So in a point-based immigration system, you might give applicants the most preference for English fluency, but a little preference for knowledge of common foreign languages (Spanish, Hindi, Mandarin). Of course, that’s not what Trump said! But I don’t exactly see how the proposed TV ad will stop voters from normalizing DJT, and I’m pretty sure the Biden campaign will therefore skip that one. P.S. I’m not advocating a preference for common world languages. I’m just saying it isn’t obviously crazy. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949/1063 "2024-03-01T18:40:25Z")
> [@TeroSunbear](#): > > How does speaking unknown languages make them more threatening? Xenophobia. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=52) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-trump-still-a-viable-candidate-for-president-really-how/983949.md?page=54)