# I could have beaten Trump, says Obama **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 26, 2016, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669 "2016-12-26T23:11:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/21 "2016-12-27T04:11:54Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > It was a simple correction. “plurality” is the more accurate term, not “majority” which John Mace used in #10. > > ETA: We wouldn’t say Trump won a “plurality” either, at least, if we’re talking about the popular vote. Majority = 50%+1. Plurality = largest share of votes, but less than 50%. I don’t know what else you’d call it. He didn’t win a majority of the popular vote. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/22 "2016-12-27T04:54:55Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > I don’t know what else you’d call it. He didn’t win a majority of the popular vote. There’s not really a word for “didn’t win a majority or plurality” that doesn’t include some form of “lose”. He lost the popular vote but won a majority of states and electoral college votes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/23 "2016-12-27T04:56:58Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > She did get 3 million more votes, she just got 70,000 votes too few in the wrong states. One might say that HRC was looking for love in all the wrong places. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/24 "2016-12-27T06:32:58Z")
Well,\* you\* might. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/25 "2016-12-27T06:35:22Z")
Nah, not me. “One” might, but not me. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/26 "2016-12-27T08:29:23Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I agree with everything you wrote. I wish someone could take away Trump’s Twitter account. But what would Obama achieve by getting a rise out of Trump, even if we were to consider an off-hand tweet “getting a rise”? Continue to drive home the point of what an Immature Arsewipe Trump is? Isn’t that an end in and of itself? And Obama’s comment is essentially saying that Clinton put too much faith in the intelligence and maturity of the American electorate - how incredibly foolish of her! ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/27 "2016-12-27T08:33:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t think anyone _should_ take away Trump’s Twitter account. Instead he should have the maturity not to use it as he has. I have a family friend that recently suffered a stroke - he’s not allowed to cook because his memory isn’t what it should be and he might forget what he’s doing - Would you think it’s better to stop him from cooking or to trust that he has the “maturity” not to cook? Would you think it better better to take the keys from a recidivist drunk driver who is blotto or to trust that he will think better of his actions and not drive? Should I help my slightly below average nephew navigate financial agreements or “trust” payday lenders, short term loan specialists and pawnshops not to take advantage of him? ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/28 "2016-12-27T09:20:02Z")
Well, “smaller plurality” is like “more unique”- only one person can have the plurality of the votes, so that smaller as a modifier simply doesn’t make any sense. This is a matter of language, not politics. I think the word you’re looking for is ‘minority’. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/29 "2016-12-27T14:43:58Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > > Trump should not be responding to provocations, real and imagined, by tweeting constantly. It’s undignified. Plus as president, he’s going to get provocations, criticism and abuse _constantly_, from people all over the world. He can’t possibly respond to all of it. So what he should do is just to ignore it. > > I agree with everything you wrote. I wish someone could take away Trump’s Twitter account. But what would Obama achieve by getting a rise out of Trump, even if we were to consider an off-hand tweet “getting a rise”? Does it bother anyone else that people (not just **HurricaneDitka** ; I’ve heard the same thing from [other people](http://www.siliconbeat.com/2016/11/28/twitter-delete-donald-trumps-account-fake-news-concerns/)) think that Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended or deleted? In less than a month, the man will have access to more direct means of communications, and will have authority over a vast federal bureaucracy, an enormous military and a massive nuclear arsenal, but can’t seem to manage a Twitter account responsibly and maturely. Doesn’t that bother you? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/30 "2016-12-27T14:54:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In less than a month, the man will have access to more direct means of communications, and will have authority over a vast federal bureaucracy, an enormous military and a massive nuclear arsenal, but can’t seem to manage a Twitter account responsibly and maturely. Doesn’t that bother you? Seems to me most people can’t manage a Twitter account responsibly and maturely, it’s probably the most inane and superficial form of communication yet invented. I do wish Trump would stop using it but in doing so he’s simply acting as the majority of his countrymen. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/31 "2016-12-27T14:56:56Z")
But most people’s Twitter feeds aren’t immediately picked up by every major newspaper and media source in the world. Isn’t he supposed to be more mature and responsible than the majority of his countrymen? Shouldn’t he recognize the influence he has as president-elect? You can’t tell me that if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were as Twitter-obsessed that Republicans wouldn’t be all over the immaturity of it. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/32 "2016-12-27T15:00:21Z")
I’d like to see his access to those modes of communication and channels of authority removed, too. But I’m not holding my breath for it. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/33 "2016-12-27T15:04:19Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > But most people’s Twitter feeds aren’t immediately picked up by every major newspaper and media source in the world. Isn’t he supposed to be more mature and responsible than the majority of his countrymen? Shouldn’t he recognize the influence he has as president-elect? > > You can’t tell me that if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were as Twitter-obsessed that Republicans wouldn’t be all over the immaturity of it. How would Democrats have reacted if Dubya had felt the need, in December of '08, to announce to everybody that he totally would’ve beaten that Obama fella at the polls? Would they have been ‘all over the immaturity of it’? Would they have insulted him? Laughed at him? Called him a racist? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/34 "2016-12-27T15:07:27Z")
If Dubya had actually said that, yes, it would have been immature. What Obama [actually said](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=19878994&postcount=10) was quite a bit more measured. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/35 "2016-12-27T15:10:21Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Does it bother anyone else that people (not just **HurricaneDitka** ; I’ve heard the same thing from [other people](http://www.siliconbeat.com/2016/11/28/twitter-delete-donald-trumps-account-fake-news-concerns/)) think that Trump’s Twitter account should be suspended or deleted? > > In less than a month, the man will have access to more direct means of communications, and will have authority over a vast federal bureaucracy, an enormous military and a massive nuclear arsenal, but can’t seem to manage a Twitter account responsibly and maturely. Doesn’t that bother you? The difference, and I think it’s an important one, is that if Trump tries to use the more direct means of communications, enormous military, or massive nuclear arsenal on a whim, he’s going to have other people tell him if they think it’s a bad idea. With Twitter, he can quickly blast out whatever thought enters his head, day or night, without anyone else knowing about it before he hits the send button. Like **aldiboronti** said, it’s an extremely inane and superficial method of communication. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/36 "2016-12-27T15:13:52Z")
Still, does it not bother you that the president-elect of the United States uses such an inane and superficial method of communication? Plus it doesn’t have to be an inane and superficial method of communication. Look, for instance, how President Obama uses the @POTUS account. It’s much more responsible and serves his agenda in a more mature manner. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/37 "2016-12-27T15:14:39Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Still, does it not bother you that the president-elect of the United States uses such an inane and superficial method of communication? Yes, absolutely (it does bother me). ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/38 "2016-12-27T15:16:54Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Well, Hillary mobilized a majority of the American people, and she didn’t win. Hillary came nowhere remotely near that. She didn’t even get a majority of voters, only around 48%, and only around 60% of voters showed up. When you look at eligible American voters, there are 231,556,622, while Hillary got 65,844,610 votes, so she managed to mobilize just 28% of the American people who could vote to vote for her. That’s not a majority, and she is actually a historically unpopular candidate, no matter how much Democrats are pushing the myth that she was actually extremely popular. Pointing out that she didn’t even get 1/3 of American voters to vote for her, well short of a majority, isn’t just pointless nitpicking. Democrats were saying the same thing about Gore’s loss to Bush back in 2000, and keeping alive the myth that they were the “Real” choice of the American people and didn’t need to contemplate doing anything different. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/39 "2016-12-27T15:26:30Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > I think he’s right and as a supporter of the Republicans I’m relieved that he couldn’t run against Trump. But my first thought upon seeing this story was, does he really have to stick it to Hillary when she’s down? I’m sure most people (well, except Trump) know that it’s true anyway, but why rub salt in the Clintons’ wound by trumpeting the fact in a major interview? > > It almost feels as if Obama still has a major grudge against Hillary and that there’s no love lost between them. Is this a fair appraisal? I believe Obama is just looking for a little attention. Anything at all will do. It seems that many of the media news outlets, and many on the internet are acting as if Trump is already the POTUS. Out with the old, in with the new. Bring out your dead even if they’re still breathing. Poor, lonesome, lonely Obama. _Hey - Axlerod! You owe me something for making you famous. How about interviewing me? People still listen to your stuff, don’t they?_ OTOH, Hillary had her chance. The election was hers to lose and she lost it. Obama’s track record of getting other Democrats elected isn’t very good, but he did try. Hillary is a big girl who has been in politics for a really, really, really long time. I’m sure she is aware that people will occasionally stop by to piss on her grave. It’s a part of the what-have-you-done-for-me-today nature of political life. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669/40 "2016-12-27T15:36:02Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > To what end? Trump sent a tweet with a typo back. I don’t see what’s been / being accomplished by either side in this. To the end of obstructing and defeating Trump’s policies and agenda. The POTUS is not the absolute ruler of the country. Even with a Republican House and Senate, keep in mind that 3 million more Americans voted for Clinton than Trump. He still has to deal with State and possibly local governments in the case of large metropolitan areas like New York or San Francisco. Plus you have mid-term elections in 2018 and a lot of those Republicans will want to keep their jobs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-could-have-beaten-trump-says-obama/775669.md?page=3)