# Is there any Woman in America who could have beaten Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 11, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510 "2016-11-11T16:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/21 "2016-11-12T03:30:47Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Condi Rice could have beat him in the primary. She would have been a formidable opponent to this rather hapless Republican field. Might not be the angle the OP is looking for. My thoughts ran the same direction as yours. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/22 "2016-11-12T05:34:09Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Condi Rice could have beat him in the primary. She would have been a formidable opponent to this rather hapless Republican field. Might not be the angle the OP is looking for. I’d have spent a lot less money & effort on the Hillary campaign if she was running against Rice. ---
**Author:** ![Gray\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c0e974/32.png) [@Gray\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gray_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/23 "2016-11-12T05:34:34Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Condi Rice could have beat him in the primary. She would have been a formidable opponent to this rather hapless Republican field. Might not be the angle the OP is looking for. > [@kopek](#): > > My thoughts ran the same direction as yours. I dunno. I’m not sure that a large chunk of his base—call them Reagan Democrats—would have followed a candidate that I’m guessing wouldn’t have been as populist, nativist, and anti-illegal immigration as Trump initially positioned himself. That said, the election was won by Trump by around 100,000 votes in MI, PA, and WI. Less than one percent of the 13 million or so total voters in those states. Any candidate that wasn’t as unfavorable as Hillary Clinton would probably have given the Democrats the win. That includes Warren, Maria Cantwell, Beverly Purdue, Christine Gregoire, maybe even Janet Napolitano. It’s hard to overestimate just how much Clinton (and Trump, too) were disliked by the electorate. Which leads one to think that pretty much anyone else would have won. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/24 "2016-11-12T06:33:56Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > I’d have spent a lot less money & effort on the Hillary campaign if she was running against Rice. [spittake]You _ **SPENT MONEY** _ on that shit? [/spittake] Goddamn P. T. Barnum! ---
**Author:** ![Waymore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Waymore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waymore)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/25 "2016-11-12T06:44:16Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > No kidding. > > Roughly HALF the people that voted voted for Trump. If you look at the county by county map probably 90 percent of the American land mass voted more for Trump than Clinton. All I see are islands of blues along the very edges of the coast and around a few big cities. > > Yet, the vast majority of what I read here is NOT just people JUST bit unhappy about the results. But posters that are besides themselves. They can’t sleep or eat or work. They have literally cried and bawled. They have to swear off the news for now. They have to stick their heads in the sand. They are ready for the next liberal revolution (though those guns they hate might help more than they would like to admit). They are sure the orange Hitler is coming to take their gay marriages away. > > They can’t even imagine why someone would vote for Trump. Hell, most of them seem to not hardly know anyone that did/would vote for Trump. Certainly not anywhere near about the half the voting folks that did. > > Yeah, SOME folks are living in a bubble. And many of them post here. If there’s a post of the year award for 2016 the above gets my vote. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/26 "2016-11-12T08:16:03Z")
I voted for Trump, not because I liked Trump, but because I loathe Hillary. I would have voted for Carly Fiorina, or Sarah Palin, or Aunt Jemimah or Lizzie freakin’ Borden over Hillary. So, to answer the OP, yes, from my perspective. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/27 "2016-11-12T08:27:57Z")
Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Duckworth, Kamala Harris, Michelle Obama, Kirsten Gillibrand, Amy Klobuchar, Oprah Winfrey, Madonna, Tina Fey… pretty much anyone. ---
**Author:** ![rbroome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/838e76/32.png) [@rbroome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rbroome)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/28 "2016-11-12T14:25:32Z")
I would guess thousands of women could have beaten Trump. Assuming that a) they could have gotten the nomination-and it takes a lot of organization and or appeal to do that- and b) they hadn’t been the subject of years of attacks and scrutiny (deserved or undeserved doesn’t matter as long as it hasn’t been dragged out over years). So, Hilary lost not because a women can’t win-something like 90% of Americans said they would vote for a qualified women and that was back in the 90’s, but she suffered years of deliberate attacks on her character and actions by the Republicans. Just as her husband did, just as Obama did, etc. It is a deliberate political strategy of the Republican party. I am sure they view it as an honorable strategy that protects the country from unworthy people and oh by the way it benefits their power structure, but it is their strategy. And I think that is one reason why Bernie might have won. Not because he is a man, because he hasn’t been the subject of years of Republican scrutiny and attacks. I think it is a major reason why Obama did win. He wasn’t on the list long enough. Once he became a national figure, it was too late. The strategy spent eight years attacking him, but given his national position he was able to stay ahead of the attacks personally. His agenda didn’t fair so well. Like a good supreme court justice, the best candidate is one without a paper trail-or in this case a Republican attack history. Which is why Elizabeth Warren will never win a national office. She is on the attack list. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2016, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/29 "2016-11-12T21:44:06Z")
To answer the OP’s question [Ronda Rousey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronda_Rousey) is an American woman who could have beaten trump… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/30 "2016-11-13T00:41:03Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > To answer the OP’s question [Ronda Rousey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronda_Rousey) is an American woman who could have beaten trump… See post #6. ---
**Author:** ![Julius\_Henry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8797f3/32.png) [@Julius\_Henry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Julius_Henry)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/31 "2016-11-13T17:22:46Z")
Rosie O’Donnell. Okay, she may not have won, but the debates may have been more entertaining. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/32 "2016-11-13T19:34:20Z")
> [@Cara\_mel](#): > > I don’t even understand why this is a question. Why make the demarcation male vs. female? The best person for the job is the best person for the job, that’s equality. I don’t believe voters supported Trump because Hillary is a woman - I think her persona and policies were her downfall. That’s my humble opinion. Except that it is a valid question in terms of appeal to demographics. The conventional thinking is that a female candidate faces an uphill battle against people who won’t vote for her, even though the best estimates of the effect quantify it as being about 3-4% of the popular vote, and largely a demographic that will already vote socially conservative anyway, while it is demonstrable that on a typical election since 1980 women turn out more than men in a gap that bridges to vastly exceeds that margin, and as the selection of Sarah Palin demonstrated, it is not necessarily a negative even for a female candidate that is manifestly unqualified depending on political bent. In other words, yes, the parties should select candidates based upon the best qualifications and appeal to core and key swing demographics, but if anything, a female candidate should sway the more typically pragmatic or undecided voters. That women, and especially young and minority women, did not turn out in droves to support Clinton says very much about her lack of appeal and the perceived disinterest in the problems faced by minorities and mid-America, notwithstanding the manufactured or exaggerated scandals that may have made the difference between marginal success or failure. A popular female Democratic candidate should have absolutely wiped the floor with Trump, especially after his campaign turned to outright misogyny (which was pretty much the very beginning with his repugnant statements about Megan Kelly). The arrogance and hubris of her campaign in largely ignoring those segments, as well as selecting a running mate on the apparent basis of not outshine get her. [This](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XeQGIzVyT3M) is the way most people who were not dyed in the wool Hillary advocates felt about her. The answer to this is not to avoid running a woman candidate; the answer is to next time select a candidate that doesn’t begin with a massive deficit of public trust and enough ethically suspect actions to seemingly legitimize questions about their integrity. And if that candidate is a woman, so much the better because nearly any moderate to progressive female candidate should be able to pull the majority of female voters with relatively modest effort. Liz Warren, Kamala Harris, Tammy Duckworth, Tulsi Gabbard, take your pick. Hell, mix and match, and let the next Republican candidate spew vitriolic bile at an actual popular female ticket, and see how well that goes for them. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/33 "2016-11-13T19:42:02Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > [spittake]You _ **SPENT MONEY** _ on that shit? [/spittake] > > Goddamn P. T. Barnum! Yes, of course I did. She was running against Donald Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/34 "2016-11-13T19:48:07Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Condi Rice could have beat him in the primary. She would have been a formidable opponent to this rather hapless Republican field. Might not be the angle the OP is looking for. I was about to post this and then I saw you already had. Condi Rice would have won the primary and been quite a contender in the General Election. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/35 "2016-11-13T20:37:44Z")
I’d love to see Tulsi Gabbard run in 2020. Hillary Clinton isn’t shit because she’s a woman, she’s shit because she’s Hillary Clinton. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/36 "2016-11-14T04:44:49Z")
I nominate Olympia Snowe. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/37 "2016-11-14T15:40:16Z")
Judge Judy ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/38 "2016-11-14T16:15:39Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > All I see are islands of blues along the very edges of the coast and around a few big cities. Which is why you should not look at a map when it comes to figuring out the depth of political support. Those giant areas on the map are giant because relatively few people live there. Manhattan has more people than Montana, but you won’t see the island where Donald Trump lives on any electoral map of the US. A projection like this works much better. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/09/06/National-Politics/Graphics/2300promo-biggraphic-v2.jpg](https://www.washingtonpost.com/r/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2016/09/06/National-Politics/Graphics/2300promo-biggraphic-v2.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510/39 "2016-11-14T17:04:44Z")
If you had a candidate as charismatic and “hopeful” as a Bill Clinton or Barack Obama running against Trump this year, they would’ve won, male or female. Are there any women with that level of charisma right now? Not sure. IMO, this was a year that was going to swing to the Republicans no matter what, unless you had a superstar Democrat on the ticket. It wasn’t so much that Trump won, rather that ® won. The fact that the ® was Donald Fucking Trump is just an unfortunate end result. The charisma of both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama snuck in out of nowhere, so if there was a woman charismatic enough to have retained the White House for the Dems, it’s likely most of us don’t even know about her. Just MHO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-woman-in-america-who-could-have-beaten-trump/771510.md?page=1)