# Prediction: what Republicans will be saying Nov. 9, 2016

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Created:** [August 15, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945 "2015-08-15T21:27:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/41 "2015-08-17T05:27:12Z")

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"Yes, it sure does feel good to win. Thank God we had the inspiration to nominate a woman to run against Hillary.

Now President Bachmann can get to work returning this country to the greatness of 1890."

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**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 17, 2015, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/42 "2015-08-17T05:55:01Z")

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> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> Apparently not the Republicans, as fhey generally pick the establishment guy. Let’s see… Romney, McCain, Bush, Dole, Bush… You have to back to Reagan before you can find a nominee the Republican ‘base’ was happy with.
> 
> The Democrat base on the other hand got Obama and Dukakis. I think it’s fair to say that Gore was an establishment candidate and so was Mondale and Kerry. So at least you got two at-bats and one double.

Nonsense. Did the voters pick Obama over McCain and Bush because Obama was more conservative than they were? If Obama and Clinton and Gore are liberals then so apparently are the American voters - all of these candidates got more votes than their Republican opponent.

The Republicans need to wake up and look at the election results. The Republicans don’t need candidates who are more conservative than McCain and Romney - they need candidates who are less conservative. Because people are voting for less conservative candidates.

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**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/43 "2015-08-17T13:49:14Z")

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> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> Apparently not the Republicans, as fhey generally pick the establishment guy. Let’s see… Romney, McCain, Bush, Dole, Bush… You have to back to Reagan before you can find a nominee the Republican ‘base’ was happy with.
> 
> The Democrat base on the other hand got Obama and Dukakis. I think it’s fair to say that Gore was an establishment candidate and so was Mondale and Kerry. So at least you got two at-bats and one double.

I don’t agree with putting Dukakis in that category. I know from the Democratic base, and they liked Jesse Jackson or maybe Dick Gephardt that year.

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/44 "2015-08-17T14:16:21Z")

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“Our top priority is to make Mrs. Clinton a one-term President.”

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**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/45 "2015-08-17T16:13:31Z")

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The US is center right country. The only way that Hillary could win is that she imported a whole bunch of illegals to vote for her. This never would have happened if all states had voter ID laws.

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**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/46 "2015-08-17T16:24:04Z")

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> [@Sam\_Stone](#):
>
> The Democrat base on the other hand got Obama and Dukakis. I think it’s fair to say that Gore was an establishment candidate and so was Mondale and Kerry. So at least you got two at-bats and one double.

While Bush I successfully painted Dukakis as a far-left liberal in the general election, in the primaries he ran as a moderate technocrat. Also, the #2 delegate getter in 1988 was Jesse Jackson, which, if only by comparison, tended to make Dukakis the establishment candidate in '88.

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**Author:** ![tullsterx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tullsterx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tullsterx)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/47 "2015-08-17T16:33:40Z")

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“It’s great to finally be in control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.”

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**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/48 "2015-08-17T16:35:24Z")

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> [@DerekMichaels00](#):
>
> If Trump or Cruz gets the nod and loses, the Tea Party guys will have a tough time claiming to be unlistened to.

They’ll be up to the challenge, as cries of “The mushy establishment RINOs deliberately threw the election after their guy didn’t get the nomination” ring out across the radios.

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**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/49 "2015-08-17T16:39:47Z")

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“Whoo hoo! President Cruz! But… why am I thinking that I ought to move to Australia, and soon?”

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**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:** [August 17, 2015, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/50 "2015-08-17T17:05:49Z")

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[Lawrence O’Donnell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTC06FmFNCY)has a pretty good piece on the 2016 election from a while back. The conservative blogger he quotes predicts, I think quite correctly, a complete disaster for Republicans in 2016. Now if they nominate a whack-a-doodle (Trump, Cruz, Walker), the party will be crippled for generations, if not fatally wounded.

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**Author:** ![DerekMichaels00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@DerekMichaels00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DerekMichaels00)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/51 "2015-08-17T19:21:50Z")

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who knows, I think the voices that have started to point out how Fox is actually hurting the GOP may grow more powerful.

But guys, the GOP is not gonna die. The Dems were supposed to die after 1988. How’d that work out? Since 1992 they’re the dominant presidential party.

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**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/52 "2015-08-17T22:02:34Z")

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But the GOP has no demographic trends working in their favor. All they have is the inertia of the large numbers of white people they minted in the middle of the 20th century, who haven’t yet shuffled off the mortal coil.

> [@tullsterx](#):
>
> “It’s great to finally be in control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.”

Hahahaha! 😛

> [@Steve\_MB](#):
>
> They’ll be up to the challenge, as cries of “The mushy establishment RINOs deliberately threw the election after their guy didn’t get the nomination” ring out across the radios.

I could see this!

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**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/53 "2015-08-17T22:42:55Z")

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> [@SlackerInc](#):
>
> “We woulda won if it wasn’t for @%#! Trump.”

I agree.

I think Trump\* will be \*the nominee _unless_ some other candidate breaks on entitlements with the 60% or so of the billionaire donor class that hate Social Security. Because all he has to do to win is point out that he supports Medicare and Social Security, like most Republicans, and like the other 40% or so of the elite donors.

If he plays it that way (which depends on him actually caring enough to try to actually win) then he’s the nominee. Trump’s positions are closer to those of the base than the stated positions of the beggars and sycophants that fill the rest of the stage.

Will he win the general, though? Probably not against an O’Malley or a Sanders. They’re even closer to the people in some ways. Against Clinton? Yeah, maybe.

I’m now wondering how this would play against Larry Lessig, weirdly enough. Such a Trump candidacy, splitting the conservative voter base from the “Establishment,” might empower Lessig’s argument. I’m not convinced yet to take Lessig seriously, but there’s something going on here…

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**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/54 "2015-08-17T22:52:42Z")

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> [@davida03801](#):
>
> It could be.  
> “Ha ha, the Dems should have known not to put Hillary up, with all her baggage”
> 
> Long way to November 2016. No one has a lock on it, either side.

I agree. Trump _could_ win.

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**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/55 "2015-08-17T23:04:26Z")

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> [@42fish](#):
>
> “I can’t believe the country elected Bernie Sanders president!”
> 
> (Hey, a man can dream.)

It _can_ still happen. The populace is more populist than either party’s establishment, and there are a\* lot\* of primary states for someone who plays successfully to that.

He needs to start campaigning beyond Iowa pretty soon, though.

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**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/56 "2015-08-17T23:06:30Z")

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> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Or more likely: “Sanders. What were those Democrats smoking? [Insert evil laugh here.] Hello Supreme Court!”  
> Edited to add - no he won’t get the nomination. We mostly gave up smoking that stuff long ago.

“That stuff” being pensions and entitlements? The New Deal? Publicly subsidized education? The mid-Twentieth Century liberal consensus? Which stuff?

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**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/57 "2015-08-17T23:22:59Z")

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If Trump runs third party (as I feel near certain he will), Sanders could win. He might even be able to win straight up against just Jeb or Walker or Rubio. But I’d rather not take that chance.

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**Author:** ![Stringbean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Stringbean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringbean)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/58 "2015-08-18T02:30:14Z")

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The same thing they said after 2012:

“We have to court latino voters better.”

…which of course will be totally ignored, again.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/59 "2015-08-18T02:57:34Z")

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^^ **This**

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [August 18, 2015, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediction-what-republicans-will-be-saying-nov-9-2016/727945/60 "2015-08-18T12:00:41Z")

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“Boy, when that **kkaylasdad99** fella issues a decree, he doesn’t fuck around…”

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